Oral History

Kathy Atwater - On the kitchen (clip)

Interviewed by Monica Palmeira on March 29, 2012

Kathy Atwater (KA): My mom always made sure there was food, not just for me and my dad, but for anybody who came by.

Monica Palmeira (MP): Really?

KA: Anybody that wanted anything, you know hungry or just came to visit, [she] always offered, so I have the habit of if anybody come in can I offer you something. Cause that’s–

MP: Engrained [Laughter]

KA: That’s how I was raised! [Laughter]

MP: Absolutely.

KA: So that kitchen was great. It was, a lot of good food came out of there, a lot of good food. And I learned some cooking there, my mom wasn’t an elaborate cook, she just did basic foods, but it was all good.

MP: What were some of your, like as a child, did you have any favorites, like when you said there were a lot of smells. If you knew you had this one particular smell, you were already excited about it. Do you have any specifics?

KA: I always liked Thursdays because that was, compared to most people, Thursday was our fish day, because that’s when the fish came in fresh on Thursday, and so we would go to the Cliff Meat Market and get the fish and pork chops. So fish and pork chops every Thursday.

MP: Nice. Very nice.

Kathy Atwater - On the kitchen (clip)

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Oral history interview of Atwater, Kathy conducted by Palmeira, Monica on March 29, 2012 at Lindsay Street, Chapel Hill, NC.

Citation: Marian Cheek Jackson Center, “Kathy Atwater - On the kitchen (clip),” From the Rock Wall, accessed September 13, 2026, https://fromtherockwall.org/oral-histories/kathy-atwater-on-the-kitchen-clip.

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