NW Kentucky News

African-American History Month - KY Humanities Council Nancy Green - Aunt Jemima

When:  Mon, February 6, 12pm – 1pm

Where:  JHG Multipurpose Room (map)

Description: 

Kentucky Chautauqua® presents  Nancy Green: Being Aunt Jemima, the Pancake Queen at Madisonville Community College 

Madisonville Community College, together with the Kentucky Humanities Council, will present Nancy Green: Being Aunt Jemima, the Pancake Queen. The event, which is open to the public, will take place on Monday, February 6 in the Multipurpose Room of the John H. Gray building on the college’s North Campus beginning at 12:15 pm. The session is the first of the college’s activities to recognize Black History Month. 

       Nancy Green became one of the first prosperous African American women in the U.S. Green was born enslaved in Montgomery County, Kentucky, in 1834. While in Kentucky she worked for the Walker family and moved with them to Chicago just after the Great Fire, in 1872. Eight years later, Nancy Green became “Aunt Jemima.” Businessman R.T. Davis had purchased a pre-mixed, self-rising recipe for pancakes and wanted an “Aunt Jemima,” a character from minstrel shows, which were popular at the time, to be the face of his pancakes. “Aunt Jemima” would be a friendly, animated, African American cook who served a wealthy white family. Playing the role of “Aunt Jemima” gave Green financial independence few African Americans and few women experienced at the time. She used her wealth as a means to empower her community. She was particularly active in her church ,leading missionary trips, investing in anti-poverty programs for African Americans, and advocating for equal rights.      

       Nancy Green is portrayed by Debra Faulk of Lexington. Faulk has spent years working in theatre previously serving as a lecturer with the University of Kentucky Theatre and Dance, an artist with the Theatre of Hearts in Los Angeles, and a teaching assistant at California State University, Los Angeles. Faulk has been a part of many regional productions including performances with the University of Kentucky Department of Theatre and Dance, the Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center, and has entertained at several comedy clubs.

       BoList of Lexington is the scriptwriter. List has been working in the area as an actor, writer, and director for more than20 years.        

       Kentucky Chautauqua is an exclusive presentation of Kentucky Humanities with support from the National 

Endowment for the Humanities and from Christina Lee Brown, the Carson-Myre Charitable Foundation, and PNC.       

       Kentucky Humanities is a non-profit Kentucky corporation affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit kyhumanities.org or call (859) 257-5932.

Original source can be found here.