Rufus Brown | Southern Foodways Alliance arrow left envelope headphones search facebook instagram twitter flickr menu rss play circle itunes calendar
October 27-28, 2023
Southern Foodways Symposium ⟶
Donate Join/Renew
Donate Join/
Renew
October 27-28, 2023
Southern Foodways Symposium ⟶

Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region. If you would like to contribute to SFA’s oral history collections, please send your ideas for oral history along with your CV or Resume and a portfolio of prior oral history work to info@southernfoodways.org.

< Back to Oral History project: Cured South

ORAL HISTORY

Rufus Brown

Johnston County Hams

Rufus Brown is the son of a Ham King. In 1967 – the same year Rufus was born – his father, Jesse, moved the family from Tazewell, Virginia to Smithfield, North Carolina. Jesse brought his Uncle Brett’s curing formula with him. After serving in World War II, Jesse trained as a master butcher and traveled around buying fresh hams for curers scattered around the South. Rufus says his father “never met a stranger.” One of the original owners of Johnston County Hams, Richard Edmonson, brought in Jesse and his expertise. One piece of Jesse’s legacy at Johnston County Hams was creating the equalization period, or the springtime element, of ambient curing. He also designed and built a wooden curing attic. Jesse passed away in 2001, but Rufus continues to use that attic to cure small batch specialty Heritage breeds like Mangalitas, Ossabaws, and Berkshires. Like his father, Rufus is the plant manger and curemaster. Today he balances his father’s legacy while adapting to a different era of curing, from stricter USDA regulations to the size of the modern-day hog – hogs Rufus says are much leaner than the ones from his father’s era.

Interviewer:
Sara Wood

Photographer:
Sara Wood

Download Transcript

“

We’ve lost a lot of ham curers. They’ve gone out of business because of the market. You used to see it everywhere in the grocery stores, but now it’s shrunk up. You used to see whole country hams hanging up in the stores. . . now it’s become more of a kind of a specialty item. ~ Rufus Brown

Other Project Interviews

Interview

Sydney Meers

As the second youngest of six kids growing up in Senatobia, Mississippi, Sydney Meers' family raised their own hogs.

Interview

Stefan Neumann

Born and raised in Neunkirchern in Saarland, Germany, curing meat was an inherent part of Stefan Neumann's culture.

Interview

Sam Edwards III

It started on a passenger ferry route running between Jamestown and Surry, Virginia in 1925.

Interview

Sally Eason

Sally Eason's father, Dick Jennings, set out for Cashiers, North Carolina in 1948.

Interview

Ron Turner

Ron Turner's father, Garnett, started by curing 25 hams for his customers. They sold out immediately.

Interview

Lewis Shuckman

Lewis Shuckman’s grandfather, Isia, told him, “Once you get started with something don’t change it.”

Interview

Jay Denham

Jay Denham says it began when while working as garde manger in restaurants, where he "took other stations' trash to…

Interview

Gregg Rentfrow

Gregg Rentfrow cut meat to pay his way through junior college.

Interview

Allan Benton

Allan Benton’s grandparents raised pork worth bragging about.

WORKING TOGETHER

WE CAN CULTIVATE PROGRESS.

The Southern Foodways Alliance drives a more progressive future by leading conversations that challenge existing constructs, shape perspectives, and foster meaningful discussions. We reconsider the past with research, scrutiny, and documentation.

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY

Alex Raij Txikito

Let’s Stay in Touch

Sign up for the SFA newsletter to have the latest content
delivered directly to your inbox.