Before Martha Stewart, there was chef, author, TV host 'Mama Lena' Richard

FOX 2 - February is Black History Month and we'll be honoring some of our nation's most important, and often forgotten about, figures in Black history.

Born Lena Richard in the small town of New Roads, Louisiana, "Mama Lena" became a chef and eventually moved to New Orleans where she broke many barriers in the Jim Crow south.

Black History Month remembers Mama Lena, the first Martha Stewart

Lena Richard opened a cooking school, a frozen food company and a restaurant.  Then in 1949 Lena Richard became the first Black woman to host her own television cooking show. 

In 1939, she self-published a cookbook titled "Lena Richard's Cook Book." It was filled with more than 300 creole recipes. Her book was endorsed by James Beard, the renowned food critic of the time.

A year later Houghton Mifflin published Richard's book under the title "New Orleans Cook Book."\

Richard also opened a cooking school, a frozen food company and a restaurant. Then in 1949 Lena Richard became the first Black woman to host her own television cooking show.