Did you know that the original ‘Aunt Jemima’, Nancy Green, has been buried for 90 years without a headstone in a Chicago cemetery?
During my research in to the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, I learned that Nancy Green played Aunt Jemima to much success. Police had to be brought in to keep the line moving and she was awarded for her showmanship at the Fair. She was given a ‘lifetime’ contract with the company, touring to promote Aunt Jemima pancake mix. Despite this ‘lifetime’ contract, she was working well in to her 70s as a maid and living with her great-nephew. She was killed by a car that flipped on to the sidewalk where she was standing. She was buried in an unmarked grave at the Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago.
A historian has found her grave and is raising funds to put a marker on it.
I know almost everyone is struggling right now, but if you are looking to make a tangible difference for a woman born in to slavery, used in a wildly successful marketing campaign only to be left in an unmarked grave, I give you the fundraising campaign:
https://www.facebook.com/donate/263496605064624/
