Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor was an American cookbook author and food writer. She was one of the first African American women to publish a cookbook and was a prominent figure in the development of American food writing. Smart-Grosvenor was born in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in a family of modest means. She began her writing career in the 1950s and went on to write several cookbooks, including 'The Smart Family Cookbook' and 'The Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor Cookbook'. Smart-Grosvenor was also a prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement and was a close friend and collaborator of James Baldwin. She passed away in 2006 at the age of 82.