Photo courtesy of the Museum of Public Relations, prmuseum.org.

Inez Kaiser (1918-2016) was the first Black woman to found a PR firm. She did so at a time when racism was rampant (1957), and in a place (Kansas City), that had never before rented office space to an African American. But to Kaiser, hurdles like these were meant to be overcome-- in this case, by threatening to report their illegal practices to the national TV networks (She soon got her office). Her next conquest was to publish a book filled with her family's recipes, passed down over the generations.  She called the book Southern Cookery. But sadly, it flopped. So she gave it a far more compelling title: Soul Food. The book was an instant success, and the new cuisine she introduced to the American palate became all the rage. Food editors and TV producers were intrigued. In this 1968 photo, Kaiser teaches "Today Show" host Barbara Walters how to cook greens, black-eyed peas and cornbread. 

To learn more about Inez Kaiser and other PR pioneers, check out: https://www.prmuseum.org/black-pr-pioneers.