Abby Connolly
Her career took a strong turn in 1939 when she self-published over 350 of her recipes in a cookbook she titled Lena Richard’s Cook Book. One year later, the renowned publisher Houghton-Mifflin reissued her book and titled it New Orleans Cook Book.
Lena became the first African American to publish a cookbook full of New Orleans Creole dishes.
The cookbook quickly became a best-seller, sending Lena on promotional tours to places like New York City and putting her name in major publications like The New York Times and The Times Herald Tribune.
People started falling in love with Lena and her food, and she’d even get booked to host private cooking lessons.
Lena returned to New Orleans in 1941 and opened her own restaurant, Lena’s Eatery. The restaurant was open to people from all walks of life, no matter their skin color.
Soon after, she was invited to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia to cook at the Travis House, to cook for military personnel and dignitaries.
She cooked there for two years before returning home to New Orleans in 1945.
In 1949, she opened another restaurant in New Orleans, Lena Richard’s Gumbo House. It was one of few fine dining restaurants owned by a black woman in the city, and it fed people some delicious food.
That same year, Lena continued to make history. New Orleans’ first television station, WDSU, invited her to host her own cooking show! Her show, Lena Richard’s New Orleans Cook Book, aired twice a week.
It was made up of 30-minute episodes where Lena would show audience members how to cook recipes from her cookbook alongside her assistant, Marie Matthews, making them the first African-Americans to host a cooking show.
Sadly, Lena passed away suddenly the following year. She died at the age of 58.
