The holidays are rife with traditions passed down through families for generations. As people emigrated to Ohio from all over the world, continuing customs from their native country helped make their new home feel more familiar. While the nineteenth century saw large groups of settlers from New England, Germany and Ireland, the twentieth century saw large populations of African Americans from the South, India, Mexico and Somalia make Ohio home. Many more cultures and backgrounds are represented by Ohioans, and traditions are a wonderful way for all of us to share a part of ourselves with each other.
Holiday traditions range from panettone and KFC chicken to La Befana and Las Posadas, but this post will focus on a tradition common to many families…cookies. Whether you love rugelach, Linzer cookies, sugar cookies, Kourampiedes or gingerbread, cookies are a tradition almost everyone can get behind. A love of cookies and cookie making is well represented in the collections of the Ohio History Connection.
