Lillian Richard (March 23, 1891 – July 2, 1956) was an African-American actress best known for portraying

Aunt Jemima Aunt Jemima was an American breakfast brand for pancake mix, table syrup, and other breakfast food products. The original version of the pancake mix was developed in 1888–1889 by the Pearl Milling Company and was advertised as the first " ...

Biography

She was born March 23, 1891, in

Hawkins, Texas Hawkins is a city in Wood County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,274 at the 2020 census. It is located twenty miles north of the larger city of Tyler. Just east of the community is Jarvis Christian University, a historically black ...

, the fifth of eleven children born to Derry Richard and his wife Cornelia (née Washington). She grew up in the nearby community of

Fouke, Texas Fouke is an unincorporated community in Wood County, located in the U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental ...

. One of her siblings was George Richard, grandfather of

Stanley Richard Stanley Palmer Richard (born October 21, 1967), nicknamed "the Sheriff", is an American former professional football player who was a safety for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers and Washington Reds ...

, a retired safety for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

and the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. In 1910, Richard went to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, working initially as a cook. Circa 1912, she married Golden Leflore, who died roughly two years later of tuberculosis. In 1925, she was contracted by

Quaker Oats Company The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and ...

to portray the Aunt Jemima character, demonstrating pancakes and other products. Her job "pitching pancakes" was based in

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River ...

. She married James Diggs in 1935. Her career with Quaker Oats lasted 23 years. After she suffered a stroke circa 1947–1948, she returned to Fouke. Relatives cared for her until her 1956 death. She outlived her husband, and had no children. In 1995, the

Texas Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a p ...

passed a resolution declaring Hawkins the "Pancake Capital of Texas". A

Texas Historical Marker The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the U.S. state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas. The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Histor ...

was placed in Richard's name on June 30, 2012.

References

External links

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Pancake Capital of Texas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richard, Lillian 1891 births 1956 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century African-American actresses Actresses from Texas Quaker Oats Company people Women in advertising Aunt Jemima