Nancy Hayes (or Hughes) was born
enslaved in the
Antebellum South on March 4, 1834. Montgomery County Historical Society oral history places her birth at a farm on Somerset Creek, six miles outside
Mount Sterling in
Montgomery County, Kentucky. With George Green, she had at least two and as many as four children (one of whom was born in 1862). Local farmers from that area named Green raised tobacco, hay, cattle, and hogs. There were no birth certificates or marriage licenses for enslaved people. Nancy Green has been variously described as a servant, nurse, nanny, housekeeper, and cook for Samuel Johnson Walker and his wife Amanda. She also served the family's next generation, again as a nanny and a cook. Walker's two sons later became well known as Chicago Circuit Judge Charles Morehead Walker., and Dr. Samuel J. Walker. she was hired by the R.T. Davis Milling Company in
St. Joseph, Missouri, to represent "
Aunt Jemima", an advertising character named after a song from a
minstrel show. According to Maurice M. Manring, the company's search for "A real living black woman, instead of a white man in blackface and drag, would reinforce the product's authenticity and origin as the creation of a real ex-slave." At the age of fifty-nine, Green made her debut as Aunt Jemima at the 1893
World's Columbian Exposition held in
Chicago, beside the "world's largest flour barrel" (twenty-four feet high), where she operated a pancake-cooking display, sang songs, and promoted the product. After the Expo, Green was reportedly offered a lifetime contract to adopt the Aunt Jemima moniker and promote the pancake mix; however, she would only choose to serve in the position for twenty years. This marked the beginning of a major promotional push by the company that included thousands of personal appearances and
Aunt Jemima merchandising. She appeared at fairs, festivals, flea markets, food shows, and local grocery stores. Her arrival was heralded by large billboards featuring the caption, "I's in town, honey." She was replaced by Agnes Moodey, deemed by the company to be "a
Negress of sixty years". After Green's death other women were hired by Quaker Oats to portray the role of Aunt Jemima, including
Lillian Richard. In 1910, at age 76, Green was still working as a residential housekeeper according to the census. Few people were aware of her role as Aunt Jemima. Green lived with nieces and nephews in Chicago's Fuller Park and Grand Boulevard neighborhoods into her old age. At the time of her death, she was living with her great-nephew and his wife. ==Religion and advocacy==