Aunt Jemima was my hero

Karen Kotoske
Palo Alto, CA

I don’t recall ever seeing anyone of any race other than white in my hometown of Salem, Oregon (1950’s.) The only non-white people I ever saw in Salem were the Native American children were brought by the State of Oregon to a boarding school in Salem, torn from their homes, but we rarely saw these children. They were confined mostly to their lonely school life. I only remember two heroes in my childhood, Helen Keller (I was a child volunteer at the school for the blind) and Aunt Jemima. I loved to cook and was responsible for a significant portion of family meals. The only professional cooks I’d ever known of were Betty Crocker and Aunt Jemima. Well, Betty Crocker never came to Salem, Oregon, but Aunt Jemima did! She came to our public library and did a cooking demonstration and I got her autograph. I was in pure cook’s heaven. Aunt Jemima was my hero.