Nancy Green
While Beavers’ continued success and notoriety in the film industry is important, what is even more intriguing is the concept behind Beavers’ character in Imitation of Life. Aunt Delilah was a character conceived from the Aunt Jemima pancake mix Mammy, portrayed by Nancy Green from 1890 until her death in 1923. Nancy Green born a slave in Kentucky in 1834; was hired by the R.T. Davis Milling Company (1890) to represent ‘Aunt Jemima. The brand was conceived after being mentioned in a minstrel show song performed by Billy Kersands-an African-American comedian and dancer, entitled Old Aunt Jemima (1875).
With executives of the company looking for a Mammy caricature to publicly advertise their brand, the company hired Green; after her successful showing at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition. A recent depiction of ‘Aunt Jemima’ has been transformed from the Mammy archetype, into a more befitting image of a Black woman.

Nancy Green, a former slave, served as the original model for Aunt Jemima.
Portrait of Nancy Green as “Aunt Jemima” by A. B. Frost