Description

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Part memoir and part food history, Bibb Country explores Lonnae O’Neal’s journey as she learns more about her family’s history through the lens of Bibb lettuce, a popular strain of lettuce named for the white, slave-owning Bibb family of Kentucky.

In Bibb Country, Lonnae O’Neal traces her family’s history back to the Bibb family farm in Kentucky. Starting with the history of Bibb lettuce and its popularity across the country, Lonnae uses DNA science, historical records, and interviews to bring the story of the Bibb family (both Black and white) to life. 

A mix of memoir, food history, and reportage, Bibb Country explores what it means to be descended from those enslaved by a family whose wealth and power helped build America, and faces the history that has echoed through a family’s generations, and by extension, all the generations of the United States.

About the Author

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Lonnae O’Neal is a senior writer for Andscape. She was a top five winner in the 2019 Associated Press Sports Editors contest, and is a two-time recipient of the National Association of Black Journalist’s Salute to Excellence Award for projects and general reporting. Prior to joining Andscape she was a Washington Post reporter and columnist for two decades, during which she received the 2016 Society for Features Journalism Award for excellence in commentary.