The Mills family from Red Oak, OH had their servant, Rosa Washington Riles, pose as Aunt Jemima. She traveled with Mr. Mills for decades but never received pay for her services of representing as Aunt Jemima. She is buried in the Red Oak Cemetary and her photo is on the headstone and it states that she is the original Aunt Jemima.
Quaker Oats is nor the original owner of Aunt Jemima pancake mix.
Hi, deirmama, welcome to the Straight Dope. I’ve moved your thread from ATMB (which we use for discussions about how the board is run) to Comments on Staff Reports, which is where discussions about articles written by the SDSAB go.
Also, for future reference, we ask that people include a link to the column they’re talking about, so that others can follow along. Here’s a link to the column about Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima.
I hope you enjoy your time on the boards.
When did she do this?
More on Rosa Washington Riles.
Well, this is interesting. That article reminded me that I actually have a copy of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Rastus: Blacks in Advertising, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow by Marilyn Kern-Foxworth in my to-be-read collection.
She does not mention a Rosa Washington Riles. Instead the woman who started playing Aunt Jemima in 1933, ten years after the death of Nancy Green, the first portrayer, is named Anna Robinson. This is confirmed on the official Aunt Jemima History page.
After Robinson, Edith Wilson, Ethel Ernestine Harper, Rosie Hall, and Aylene Lewis took the role. By the 1950s there were many Aunt Jemimas, some touring, some at the Disneyland Aunt Jemima restaurant, some for television.
It seems likely, from the T. J. Tucker article referenced on this page, that Riles was one of the many Aunt Jemimas of the 1950s, not the one from 1933.