Miss Green was born into slavery in 1834. Nancy Green was a storyteller, cook, and one of the first black corporate models in the United States. Green was hired by the R.T. Davis Milling Company to represent "Aunt Jemima". Aunt Jemima was named after a song from a minstrel show that the owner of the R.T. Davis Milling Company attended and would resemble a mammy archetype. Green became the world's first living trademark. In 1893 the R.T. Davis Milling Company began an aggressive campaign that began with having Green demonstrate the pancake mix at an exposition in Chicago. Green's cooking skills and warm personality made her a hit at the exposition. She was the ideal "Aunt Jemima" and proclaimed the "Pancake Queen". Special policemen were assigned to her booth to keep the crowd moving. Green went on to tour the world promoting this pancake mix. Green signed a lifetime contract with R.T. Davis Milling Company and held her job until her death in 1923. Green was one of the organizers of the Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago. Her career as "Aunt Jemima" allowed the financial freedom to become an activist and engage in antipoverty programs.
With Green's help, flour sales soured during this period and people stopped looking at pancakes as just breakfast food.
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