Carson Gulley

Carson Gulley
Born(1897-06-09)June 9, 1897
Zama, Nevada County, Arkansas
DiedNovember 2, 1962(1962-11-02) (aged 65)

Carson Gulley (June 9, 1897 – November 2, 1962)[1] was head chef at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1926 to 1954. He is known in part for popularizing a recipe for fudge-bottom pie that is still served on campus today.[2] The refectory where he once served as head chef is now known as Carson Gulley Commons. It was the first university building at the University of Wisconsin–Madison to be named after an African American.[3]

Gulley was also a local pioneer in television and radio cooking programming. From 1953 to 1962, Gulley had his own weekly cooking show, called What's Cooking, on local television station WMTV. Also, in 1953, he hosted a twice-weekly local radio cooking program, called WIBA Cooking School of the Air, and each month compiled the program's recipes in booklets that listeners could request by mail. He and his wife Beatrice were the first African American couple to host their own television show in Wisconsin in the 1950s.[4][5]

He led the Madison branch of the NAACP. Having failed for many years to buy a house in Madison, he made an emotional appeal to the Madison City Council's Committee on Human Rights. This in part led to the City Council passing a Fair Housing Ordinance.[6]

He published his first book Seasoning Secrets: Herbs and Spices in 1949 at the suggestion of George Washington Carver.

  1. ^ "Remembering a trailblazing chef: Carson Gulley". University of Wisconsin–Madison. February 15, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  2. ^ Penn, Michael (Spring 2006). "The Life of Pie" (PDF). On Wisconsin. pp. 40–43. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2007.
  3. ^ Simms, Muriel (October 29, 2018). Settlin': Stories of Madison's Early African American Families. Wisconsin Historical Society. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-87020-886-7.
  4. ^ Seyforth, Scott (Summer 2016). "The Life and Times of Carson Gulley". Wisconsin Magazine of History. Vol. 99, no. 4. pp. 2–15.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference another was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Martell, Chris (February 5, 2006). "A Place in Black History". madison.com. Retrieved December 10, 2020.