PRESTONSBURG — Big Sandy Community and Technical College invites you to attend a “Chautauqua” performance April 17 from 11:40 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Gearheart Auditorium located on the Prestonsburg Campus.
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, 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 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.
Debra Faulk of Lexington portrays Nancy Green. She has spent years working in theatre, previously serving as a lecturer at the University of Kentucky Theatre and Dance, an artist at 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.
Bo List of Lexington is the scriptwriter. He has been working in the area as an actor, writer and director for more than 20 years.
“Kentucky Chautauqua” is an exclusive presentation of Kentucky Humanities with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and from the Brown-Forman Corporation, the Carson-Myre Charitable Foundation, the Cralle Foundation, Eastern Kentucky University, the Elsa Heisel Sule Foundation, Lindsey Wilson College, Morehead State University, Mountain Telephone, Paducah Bank, PNC, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc.
Kentucky Humanities is a nonprofit Kentucky corporation affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit kyhumanities.org or call (859) 257-5932.