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Hidden North Shore history as told through Marblehead’s signature rum and molasses cookie

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Joe Frogger cookies that will be sold in the Sweet Home Cafe at the African American Museum on September 22, 2016 in Washington, DC.

WBUR, November 2023

Rum, molasses, nutmeg and clove might sound like seasonal flavors this time of year, and they are, but they’re also the flavors of the Joe Frogger cookie, a regional delicacy that connects Gingerbread Hill in Marblehead all the way to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

We spoke with Lauren McCormack, executive director of the Marblehead Museum, and Kabria Baumgartner, dean’s associate professor of history and Africana studies at Northeastern University, to shed new light on the story of these cookies in 2022. We revisit the conversation as part of WBUR’s Field Guide to Boston.

Continue reading at WBUR.

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