Lillian Richard

KLTV reported in 2020 that Quaker Oats was retiring the Aunt Jemima label as a racial stereotype, and that Richard's family disagreed. Family historian Vera Harris said Lillian made an honest living at a time when few jobs were open to Black women, and that Hawkins considered her a hero. Wikipedia adds that her pancake-pitching work was based in Paris, Texas, that she married James Diggs in 1935, that a stroke around 1947 or 1948 ended her career, and that relatives cared for her in Fouke until she died in 1956.

What the plaque says

Lillian Richard Born in the Fouke community in 1891, Lillian Richard was one of eleven children of Derry and Cornelia (Washington) Richard. In 1910 she moved to Dallas, working initially as a cook. In 1925 she accepted a position with the Quaker Oats Co. Portraying "Aunt Jemima," a character from an 1875 song later popularized in minstrel shows, radio programs and movies. Lillian was one of several african-american women who traveled the country promoting Aunt Jemima brand pancake mix. Her career with Quaker Oats lasted 23 years until she suffered a stroke and returned to Fouke. She died in 1956 and was buried in Fouke Memorial Cemetery. Because of her legacy, in 1995 the texas legislature named Hawkins the "Pancake Capital of Texas." (2011)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tyler State Park — 10.0 mi
  A 985-acre park eight miles north of Tyler, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935 to 1941 around a 64-acre spring-fed lake, with more than 13 miles of trails.
• Governor Hogg Shrine — 15 mi
  Quitman's 27-acre city park, once a state historical park, where two houses tied to James Stephen Hogg's marriage stand beside an arboretum, a nature walk and the grounds of the Old Settlers Reunion.
• Camp Ford Historic Park — 16 mi
  A free county park north of Tyler on the site of the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi, with a kiosk, an interpretive trail and a historical society museum downtown.
• Goodman-LeGrand House and Museum — 19 mi
  A Tyler house begun in 1859 as four rooms, enlarged by the Goodman family over 73 years, and left to the city in 1939 with its furnishings, in a garden that fills a city block.

More markers nearby

• Martin Varner — 4.6 mi
• Jarvis Christian College — 6.1 mi
• Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church — 8.0 mi
• Sabine Methodist Church — 8.1 mi