Feel Good Friday: National Angel Food Cake Day

Tomorrow, October 10, the United States will celebrate the annual National Angel Food Cake Day. How did this amazing confection, which manages to delight despite containing no butter or oil, come into our world?

Historians agree that the angel food cake is a truly American food, born in the United States. Some question remains, however, about the exact circumstances. An impressive number of angel food cake pan molds, dating to the 1800s, have been found in Pennsylvania Dutch country, fueling speculation that this fat-free dessert was invented there. Others believe that the enormous amount of physical labor involved in creating the batter in a time without electricity means it likely originated in a state with legalized slave labor.

An 1839 recipe published in “The Kentucky Housewife” appears to be the missing link connecting the modern angel food cake to traditional sponge cakes. According to Joy of Cooking, angel food cakes are unique because they contain “no chemical leaveners such as baking powder or baking soda,” which means the “main sources of leavening . . . are air and steam, so the volume of air beaten into the egg whites is of utmost importance (75th Anniversary Edition, p 705).” This means angel food batter is extremely difficult to create by hand.

In 1856, we see the first patent for a rotary egg beater. The idea for a mechanical egg beater continued to be perfected over the ensuing decades, and the 1870 advent of the dual whisk egg beater set the stage for the explosion of the angel food cake in American home cooking. An angel food cake recipe that would be recognizable to modern readers was printed in the New York Times in 1880. We know it was a White House favorite of then-First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes.

While angel food cake has its roots in the adolescent days of our republic, its perfection and widespread popularity were only made possible through the mechanization of home cookery.

Further Exploration

• Read more about the history and nature of angel food cake at MarthaStewart.com

Hispanic Activists You Should Know

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which today enters its final week, we are shining a spotlight on four important Hispanic activists who are not attorneys, but who have had an impact on United States law.

Joan Baez, the daughter of a prominent Mexican-American physicist, was born on Staten Island in 1941. In her late teens, she found herself immersed in the deeply political folk music scene of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her debut album was released by Vanguard Records 60 years ago this month. In 1963, she entered households all over America through her performance of We Shall Overcome at the March on Washington. As discussed in No Direction Home, Baez radicalized Bob Dylan and introduced him to the folk scene. Often through interpretation of his songs, Baez and Dylan together created an iconic soundtrack to various political movements, including draft reform and lowering the age to vote. Baez has worked tirelessly for a wide variety of civil rights causes in the decades since, and these days posts images of her politically-charged paintings to her official Instagram as she continues to shape policy changes through her compelling art.

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan is not a lawyer, but has influenced the law as an LGBT activist and a White House staffer during the Obama administration. Born in Honduras in 1987, she was adopted by Americans as an infant, and raised in Brookline, an urban town that borders Boston. After a rise to prominence working with the National Center for Transgender Equality, Freedman-Gurspan accepted a position under President Obama as the Senior Associate Director for Public Engagement and the White House LGBT Community Liason. The Obama administration oversaw numerous regulatory changes that improved legal outcomes for transgender Americans. For example, prior to Freedman-Guspan’s tenure, in 2010 the Housing and Urban Development regulatory guidelines were updated to include transgender people under the Fair Housing Act protections against discrimination based on sex. Freedman-Guspan is currently a leader in the fight to reform gerrymandering laws, as a Deputy Director at All On the Line.

Dolores Huerta may be 90, but she remains an active advocate for labor reform and civil rights improvements. She may be best known for co-founding the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chavez in 1962. Huerta had previously founded the Agricultural Workers Association. Though originally from New Mexico, Huerta is now closely associated with California. One of the first successful campaigns she worked on was the 1960 effort to get California to provide its driver licensure exam in Spanish. Her decades of activism and lobbying efforts were crucial to the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, a national labor law landmark. In 2002, she founded the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which promotes civic engagement so that average citizens can impact the legislative process through which laws are created.

Sylvia Mendez started her life as an activist at age 8, as the plaintiff in Mendez v. Westminister School Dist., 64 F. Supp. 544 - Dist. Court, SD California 1946. In that monumental case, the Ninth Circuit held that the policy of segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, paving the way for the 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Mendez was among the first Hispanic students to attend a previously “all-white” public school in California. In 2011, President Obama awarded her a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Now age 84, she continues to speak out about her important experience as a young civil rights pioneer.

National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

“Domestic violence is an evil that threatens the social fabric of our Nation. It is a widespread attack on the most sacred and intimate of institutions — the American family.” — Proclamation on National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, 2020

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time set aside to educate, support, and stand up against this pervasive wrong that continues to plague our society, and which has sadly increased during a time when the world is consumed by the continuing effects of the global pandemic that has upended our lives. It is a reminder that the vulnerable still need to be protected and kept safe from harm.

If you need immediate assistance, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233).

To help those who have been a victim of domestic violence or know someone that has, our librarians at the Harris County Law Library have compiled a list of resources and organizations that may be able to assist:

National Domestic Violence Hotline - Available 24/7, the National Domestic Violence Hotline provides much-needed support to survivors of domestic violence through its telephone hotline or its live chat line. You can find information to help you recognize the common signs of abuse and tips for creating a safety plan. The information and resources available on the Hotline’s website are not limited to victims of family violence. There is also useful information for those who are witnesses to domestic violence and abuse and how to provide much-needed support.

Texas Advocacy Project - Through free legal services, access to the justice system, and education and prevention, the Texas Advocacy Project seeks to break the cycle of violence and offer survivors an opportunity to live free from fear of abuse. The Texas Advocacy Project offers virtual legal clinics that can help with a wide range of family law issues, assistance with emergency protective orders, and two toll-free legal help lines.

AVDA (Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse) - Located here in Houston, AVDA has been serving survivors of domestic abuse by providing free legal representation and counseling for 40 years. Programs include victim advocacy, legal advocacy, counseling, and its Battering Intervention and Prevention Program. You can also find a downloadable domestic violence safety plan and a list of local organizations that provide much-needed assistance, such as shelters and organizations that provide employment, rent/utilities, and emergency and support services.

Texas Health and Human Services Commission - Through its Family Violence Program, the Commission provides survivors with supportive services, such as temporary 24-hour shelters, a 24-hour hotline, legal assistance, emergency transportation, assistance in obtaining medical care, and training and help finding employment.

Attorney General of Texas - The Office of the Attorney General of Texas offers assistance to victims of family violence through several different initiatives such as the Crime Victims’ Compensation Program, the Address Confidentiality Program, the Statewide Automated Victim Notification System, and child support help. Survivors of family violence can also have their names removed from public files and records relating to the offense by completing the Pseudonym Form for Victims of Family Violence.

DomesticShelters.org - DomesticShelters.org has created a list of domestic violence services that are available in cities throughout Texas. Resources range from emergency services to community education services. Simply click on a city near you to see which services are available in your area.

Texas Free WiFi Map

Do you have a laptop, tablet, phone, or other mobile device but lack consistent, reliable access to the Internet? Do have a limited data plan that restricts your access to online resources just when you need them the most? We found a solution!

The Texas State Library & Archives Commission, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, and Texas Legal Services Center/TexasLawHelp.org have developed an ArcGIS map of free public drive-up WiFi spots in Texas. Users can enter their address or city and search for available public WiFi within a specified distance. (Harris County Law Library is one such location.) Anyone who needs free internet access for school, work, virtual court hearings, telehealth visits, or access to web-phone or -text services will find this information useful. 

The map is available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. 

BPSOS-Houston deserves much credit for their assistance in translating the site for Vietnamese speakers.

Access the Texas Free WiFi Map at either of the links below.

• TexasLawHelp.org Free WiFi Map

• Texas State Library and Archives Commission Free WiFi Map

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission provides a list of additional resources to help Texans get and stay connected to the Internet, a couple of which are listed here.

• Find local internet service providers making price and service adjustments to keep communities connected.

• Find local service providers in your area using BroadbandNow.org

If you have any questions or comments regarding the map tool, please contact TexasWiFiMap@tlsc1.org

Provide feedback by filling out this short survey.

Are You Registered?

If you intend to vote in November’s general election and have not yet registered to vote, don’t miss out on your opportunity! Today, October 5, is the final day to register, but we at the Harris County Law Library have got you covered with a list of resources that can help you get that done.

Harris County Tax Assessor - If you are a Harris County resident, visit the website of the Harris County Tax Assessor. There, you will find information about eligibility requirements, ways to confirm your registration status, and ways to obtain a voter registration application.

VoteTexas.gov - Texas residents can confirm their voter registration status and learn how to register to vote, if they haven’t already done so on the VoteTexas.gov website from the Texas Secretary of State.

Vote411.org - The League of Women Voters Education Fund has created Vote411.org, a website that provides personalized voting information and voting information by state. It even has checklists for first-time voters.

Don't miss out on the chance to exercise your right to vote in the November 3rd election. Take part in democracy because #votingmatters. Register today!