The History of Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet potatoes were introduced to West Africa around the 16th century, but other root vegetables were far more popular, including yams and cassava. When the slave trade forcibly relocated Africans to the American South, sweet potatoes became popular among them because it was the closest root vegetable they could find that resembled the yams of their homeland. Sweet potato pound, a type of baked sweet potato dessert that could be made in the embers of a fire, became popular among the enslaved population. Over time, they added spices and sweeteners like molasses. As cooking equipment became more sophisticated with the introduction of ovens, they started to add pie shells around it, giving rise to sweet potato pies. Some sources also note that Europeans began putting vegetables in desserts in the 1700s; many wealthy Americans wanted to follow suit and began asking their cooks for similar dishes, furthering the growing popularity of these types of pies. Pumpkin fillings were used more widely in the North, but sweet potatoes were used in the South. After slavery was abolished, Black Americans in the South were subjected to decades of terror, leading many families to flee the area and move northward, settling in the Northeast, Midwest, and West in what became known as the Great Migration. Sweet potato pie traveled with them. And although making sweet potato pie is a laborious process, the dessert has remained a staple in Black communities and is considered a symbol of love, family, and community. Today, sweet potato pie is served not only during the annual Thanksgiving meal, but at family gatherings, religious functions, and other community events.