The Girl Who Made the Cherry Pie, Posted on Monday, January 5, 2026

In June of 1936, Elizabeth Scott Carrington was working in Philadelphia as a nursing instructor. The Democratic National Convention was taking place nearby and she walked over to see if she could find someone her father knew, Josephus Daniels. Among other things, Mr. Daniels was the editor-in-chief of the News and Observer (Raleigh). She had met Mr. Daniels many years before when he came to her parents’ home for lunch one day.

She spotted Mr. Daniels right away and walked up to him. She introduced herself but before she could get more than a few words out, he interrupted her, saying, “You’re the girl who made the cherry pie!”

That must have been quite a pie. The cherries came from a Morello cherry tree on her parents’ property. Elizabeth said that she had never seen one anywhere else. The family also had a greenhouse where they grew their own lemons, but that is another story.

Elizabeth probably used the kitchen tool pictured here to remove the pits when she made the pie. Morello cherries are a medium sized cherry with a tart flavor and are excellent for baking and canning. I wonder if she made a lattice top for her pie. Elizabeth was known for her cooking and baking, and although she majored in Home Economics in college at Flora MacDonald, went off to nursing school in Philadelphia after graduation. And the rest, of course,  is history.