How Fried Chicken Became a Symbol of Financial Freedom for Black Women | Eater

"During the Civil War the building was converted into a receiving hospital and became the focal point for the region’s famed ‘waiter carriers’—Black women who sold baskets of fried chicken, pies and other goods to soldiers and travelers at the nearby train stop. Their work and the aroma that greeted arriving passengers helped lead a 19th-century writer to dub the town the ‘fried chicken capital of the world,’ and a plaque now honors these enterprising Black women as early entrepreneurs. The site thus represents both a wartime medical facility and a tangible reminder of how Black women used culinary labor to create economic opportunity and shape local food traditions." - Debra Freeman