‘More than just a box of pancakes.’ Ky. town honors the woman who was first Aunt Jemima

Nancy Green was the first face representing Aunt Jemima on pancake mix boxes sold nationwide.

She was born enslaved in Montgomery County and became the first living trademark and a missionary who help found one of the largest and oldest African American churches in Chicago.

Candace Clayton Minnich now wants to share Green’s legacy through a culinary scholarship and a historical marker in her honor.

Minnich first heard of Green when the pancake mix product was rebranded to Pearl Milling Company, the name of the original company that produced the mix. She learned Green, who was born on March 4, 1834, and her shared the same birthplace of Montgomery County.

Minnich runs Tipton Staffing, a food service contractor that specializes in the hospitality industry. Minnich saw a commonality with her family’s love for sharing stories in the kitchen and cooking and Green’s.

Minnich began her mission of sharing Green’s life and her accomplishments as a caregiver, a missionary, a philanthropist, a mother and an activist.

Green obtained her freedom in her late teens or early 20s and went to work as a servant for Charles Morehead Walker in Covington. The Walkers moved to Chicago, and she continued as a nurse and personal attendant to Walker’s two sons, Charles M. Walker Jr. and Dr. Samual J. Walker, who became a Chicago Circuit Court judge and a physician, respectively.

In 1890, she got a job with R.T. Davis Milling Company with the recommendation of Judge Walker. The company was looking to employ a Black woman as a “Mammy” archetype to promote their new product, some believe her pancake recipe was adapted to the ready mix.

In 1893, Green was introduced as Aunt Jemima at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

“I want people to remember her and honor her as America’s first living trademark, but also the fact she was a businesswoman and an entrepreneur,” Minnich said. “She made a huge impact on the advertising world.”

Green was also the first African American missionary worker and helped found the Olivet Baptist Church, the largest and oldest African American Baptist church in Chicago. Using her notoriety, she advocated against poverty and for Black equal rights.

“She spent her life serving other people and trying to do better and make the world a better place, her community a better place,” Minnich said. “Continuing to put her time and effort into a period of time that wasn’t really giving her anything back. She was continuing to put in everything she had.”

At age 89, Green died after being struck by a car.

Minnich wants to preserve Green’s legacy with a culinary scholarship for minority students from Montgomery County. The recipients of the annual scholarship can attend any culinary school of their choice, including Maysville Community & Technical College. So far, she has raised $5,000.

Scholarship organizers will host a pancake breakfast to share Green’s life and raise money for the scholarship fund. The breakfast will be 8-11 a.m. on March 5 at DuBois Community Center. The event will be free but they will be collecting donations.

Minnich invited two of Green’s living relatives, her great, great, great, great nephews Marcus and Michael Hayes.

Marcus Hayes said he is excited to see Green’s legacy be recognized. It will be his first time visiting Green’s birthplace.

“She’s a huge representation of what we are,” he said. Her “perseverance no matter what she has been through: born enslaved in Mt. Sterling and working and still doing the best she can with what she had and still making a name for herself, even though she was mistreated, wasn’t truly valued. She never stopped.”

Hayes said he wants Green to be remembered not just for her pancakes.

“I want everybody to know that she went above and beyond what was expected for her to accomplish,” Hayes said. “She’s more than just a box of the pancakes. She’s more than just a cook. She is a woman who has persevered through hard times and still was able to shine a light in this world.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2022 at 6:00 AM.