Nancy Green Aunt Jemina Thomas Jennings Jacksonville , Florida September 2014
Taste of Jamaica Restaurant Orlando , Florida September 2014
Born into slavery in 1834 , Nancy Green became the advertising world ’ s first living trademark as Aunt Jemima . While working as a domestic in Chicago , Green was contracted in 1893 at age 59 to portray a happy cook to promote a pancake recipe by Pearl Milling Co and Aunt Jemima was born . Green signed a lifetime contract that allowed her likeness to be used for packaging and billboards .
Green died in 1923 , but her image as the pancake queen lives on today . Some view the icon as a painful reminder of slavery , and her character as the apron-clad cook with a bandanna tied on her head as a negative stereotype of black women .
Source : NABJ . com and Biography . com