“I’ve known about Edna Lewis for a long time,” says William & Mary history professor Adrienne Petty. “I just can’t pinpoint the moment I learned about her.”

Petty is part of a panel taking place next Thursday, Feb. 27 after the Richmond premiere of the newly released VPM documentary “Finding Edna Lewis,” now airing on PBS [full disclosure: VPM owns Style Weekly].

The panel also includes Joy Crump, executive chef and co-owner of Fredericksburg’s Foode + Mercantile, and Deb Freeman, the award-winning podcast host and executive producer/host of “Finding Edna Lewis.”

“I’m awestruck by her [Edna Lewis], but also a little bit ticked off and embarrassed more people don’t know about her,” says Crump.

Like Petty, Crump has known about Lewis for a long time. The “Top Chef” alum and James Beard Foundation semi-finalist for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic grew up in Pennsylvania and spent years working in Los Angeles before moving to Atlanta. There, she connected with legendary Southern chef Scott Peacock, a longtime friend of and former assistant to Lewis.

Once she figured out the magnitude of who Lewis was and her impact on American cuisine, Crump says she could not understand why Lewis is not recognized more.

From Freetown to the forefront

Born in the Freetown community of Orange County, Virginia, Lewis was on the forefront of the farm-to-table movement. She and her family and the families around her—all only one or two generations removed from slavery—worked the land, reaping its bounty and preparing it for simple yet exquisite dishes.

During the period of the Great Migration, due to family circumstances, Lewis headed north at the tender age of 16. She started her journey into adulthood as a laundress; she would go on to become an executive chef at more than one lauded establishment, a revered cook book author and the inaugural recipient of the James Beard Living Legend award.

But it all started in Freetown.

“Like Edna, I grew up with grandparents who grew a lot of what they ate,” says Petty. “The variety of what you find, especially in [Lewis’ cookbook] ‘Taste of Country Cooking’… that really resonated with me.”

From dozens of field pea varieties to all different types of greens, never just collard greens, to plump, freshly foraged blackberries—these are the memories of the land that Petty holds dear, just like Lewis.

“In every cookbook, Lewis writes, ‘I’m from Freetown,’” says Petty. “It’s very clear it’s part of her sense of self and her sense of being connected to other people.”

That sense of self is deeply rooted in the American South, all of its prizes and peccadilloes included.

“I live in Fredericksburg­—less than an hour from Orange County, this is a literal gift,” says Crump of her proximity to Lewis’ hometown. “It’s caused me to take pride in being a Southern chef, in walking on the land where she walked, in honoring the barriers she was able to smash just by the nature of who she was.”

Crump landed in Virginia more than a dozen years ago when her business partner and friend Beth Black relocated to be closer to family. “She was familiar with Fredericksburg and said this is a cool, medium-sized town,” says Crump.

“By stupid luck” who would Crump befriend in this medium-sized town? None other than Angela Freeman, the daughter of Nina Williams-Mbengue, Edna Lewis’ niece who transcribed “The Taste of Country Cooking” when she was only 12. (Williams-Mbengue also makes an appearance in “Finding Edna Lewis.”)

“I got to go to the farm and sit down and talk to the family and make fried chicken and pie and corn pudding,” says Crump.

The depth of Edna’s influence in the food world—though only just being recognized in the past few years—cannot be overstated. And it seems her touch lives on, as everyone from historians to top toques recall a time when they conjured Miss Lewis.

Before the Richmond premiere of “Finding Edna Lewis,” there will be a happy hour in the atrium at the Institute for Contemporary Art featuring bites from chef Crump, The Roosevelt’s Leah Branch, Nikki Polk of Charlotte’s Deli and Mike Lindsey of Lindsey Food Group.

Crump says the chefs were directed to springboard off of a Lewis recipe—she’ll be preparing a vegetarian adaptation of a hunting season dinner, a black-eyed cassoulet with kale and mushrooms and a biscuit with tomato preserves and homemade butter. Crump says her chef cohorts (who also happen to be friends) are including rabbit and duck dishes so she wanted to fill the veg-forward niche.

Filling the boozy niche will be Secret Supper Society Director of Hospitality Chauncey Jenkins. Jenkins crafted two cocktails for the event: April 13, a riff on a classic mint julep, and Draped in Gold, a riff on the classic Gold Rush cocktail.

Jenkins honors Miss Lewis specifically on April 13, the grand dame’s birthday. Jenkins says the signature drink at her 80th birthday party was a mint julep.

“But deeper than that, the mint julep is said to have its roots here in Virginia, and even helped the legend John Dabney gain fame and ultimately build enough of a name to purchase his family’s freedom,” says Jenkins.

The cocktail will feature Bowman Brothers Virginia Straight Bourbon, a product of the A. Smith Bowman distillery which is the oldest distillery in Virginia, and up until the 1950s, was the sole producer of legal whiskey in the Commonwealth.

“Using this spirit is a nod to Edna’s Virginia roots,” says Jenkins.

Editor’s note: The event had to be rescheduled from Feb. 20 due to snow. The Richmond screening of “Finding Edna Lewis,” now takes place Thursday, Feb. 27 at the Institute for Contemporary Art from 5:30-9 p.m. A limited number of tickets can be purchased online.

“Finding Edna Lewis” is now streaming on PBS.