Bertha L. Turner

Bertha Lee Turner (1867–1938) was an American caterer, cookbook author, and community leader in Pasadena, California, in the early 1900s. She is most famous for compiling The Federation Cookbook: A Collection of Tested Recipes Compiled by the Colored Women of the State of California.

Early life Bertha Lee Turner was born Bettie Lee, in 1867, in Kentucky. Turner was one of four children born to Squire (Henry) Lee and Sophia Mitchell. Her siblings' names were Benjamin, Sally, and Leander. Turner's father, Squire, was a veteran of the American Civil War. He enlisted in the Union Army in Lexington, Kentucky, and according to the U.S. Descriptive List of Colored Volunteer Army Soldiers, 1864, was enslaved when he enlisted. After the end of the war, by 1870, Squire was working as a farm hand while Sophia ran the home in Kentucky.

By 1880, when Turner was 13, she had moved to Marion, Indiana. Her mother, doing laundry to support the family, married her second husband, Edward Dupree, also a veteran of the Civil War.

Bertha married James Turner on December 6, 1891, when she was 24 years old. By 1895, they had their one and only son, Raymond. By 1900, Raymond was living with his grandparents, while Bertha and James worked in the home of a man named Sterling R. Scott, an ice manufacturer. Bertha was a servant while James was the butler.

In 1910, Turner collected recipes and edited The Federation Cookbook: A Collection of Tested Recipes Compiled by the Colored Women of the State of California, a cookbook to preserve black culinary identity and celebrate the culinary success of local housewives. The cookbook assembled recipes from cooks living in and around Pasadena, most probably from the National Federation of Colored Women. The cookbook opens with a poem to modern housewives answering the perennial question of "what's for dinner" and also states that Turner was a State Superintendent of Domestic Science and private caterer. Around 1917, Turner began to cater for various clubs in Pasadena, including Club No. 2 and the Shakespeare Club, a charitable organization. She contributed to the Shakespeare Club's 1936 cookbook, Dainties that are Bred in a Book. Turner was a patroness to the arts, sponsoring many events, including a 1915 play about Anthony Burns.

In 1924, Turner and her husband moved from 920 Worcester Avenue to a "palatial residence of 10 rooms, consisting of every modern convenience" at 725 Winona Avenue. In 1925, when Turner's daughter-in-law, Elsie Dalton Turner, was involved in a car accident that resulted in the death of a young girl, Turner wrote a Letter to the editor of the California Eagle noting the biased reporting.

From 1931 to 1934, Turner ran concessions of the Tea Garden at the Hollywood Bowl.

Death In 1937, Turner suffered a sudden health collapse. It was eventually diagnosed as bladder cancer, according to her death certificate. Turner died on February 4, 1938. Her death was a shock to the Pasadena community, who reported solely on her death as the social news of the week in the California Eagle. blockquote There are no words to employ that might measure the extent of the loss that California sustains now and forever after: for hers was a niche that she alone could fill. — George Garner — California Eagle Turner is buried at Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena, Los Angeles County. At the time of her death she was reported to be "California's wealthiest colored citizen" and to have employed hundreds of people during the summer season.