Ethel Ernestine Harper

Ethel Ernestine Harper (September 17, 1903 – March 31, 1979) was an African-American educator and performer. She was known for her portrayal of the Aunt Jemima advertising character during the 1950s.[1]

Ethel Harper
Ethel Ernestine Harper, from a 1932 newspaper.
Born(1903-09-17)September 17, 1903
Greensboro, Alabama
DiedMarch 31, 1979(1979-03-31) (aged 75)
Morristown, New Jersey
OccupationSinger, performer, clubwoman
Known forPortrayed Aunt Jemima in the 1940s and 1950s

Early life

Ethel Ernestine Harper was born in Greensboro, Alabama, the youngest child and only daughter of Wiley W. Harper and Emma Louise Jones Harper. Both of her parents were educators.[2] Orphaned at the age of 9, Harper moved from Selma to Birmingham to live with her older brother and his wife.[3] She graduated from Industrial High School, and trained as a teacher at the State Teachers College in Montgomery (now known as Alabama State University).[4][5]

Career

Teaching in Alabama

Harper taught at Northport, Alabama as a young woman, and gave private music lessons. She returned to teach at her alma mater, Industrial High, and organized the Girls' Minstrel, the yearly musical and theatrical showcase. While teaching at Parker High School in Birmingham, Harper led a musical group called the Ethel Harper Rhythm Boys. The group of teenaged students toured in Alabama in a chartered bus, and included Sonny Blount, later known as jazz composer Sun Ra. In 1932, Harper became president of the Birmingham City Federation of Colored Women's Clubs.[2] Harper taught in Alabama for twelve years, before moving to New York in 1936, in pursuit of a musical career.[6]

Music

In New York, Harper performed at the Apollo Theatre's Amateur Hour in 1936, and won. Soon after, she appeared in Connie's Hot Chocolates of '37, with the Melody Maids. She appeared in the 1939 Broadway production The Hot Mikado, a swing reworking of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.[6] She was in Harlem Cavalcade in 1942, and toured with the Four Ginger Snaps during World War II,[7] performing for troops and making recordings.[3] In the mid-1950s, she toured in the United States and Europe with the Negro Follies, a musical troupe of twenty-five singers and dancers.[8]

Aunt Jemima

In 1950, Harper auditioned for, and won, the part of Quaker Oats' Aunt Jemima;[9] her friend Edith Wilson also played the role on radio and television, from 1948 to 1966.[10][11] As the face of the company's pancake syrup, Harper appeared in person at pancake festivals, schools, and hospitals, until 1958.[12] She was the last individual model for the character's image; after 1958 the face of Aunt Jemima was a composite creation.[13][14]

Girl Scouts and later years

After her Aunt Jemima role ended, Ethel Harper moved to Morris County, New Jersey,[15] where she worked for the Morris Area Girl Scout Council from 1958 until 1967, in various positions including director, program coordinator, staff advisor, and committee chair. After nine years with the New Jersey Girl Scouts, Ethel transferred to the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York. She retired from Scouting in 1969.[3]

Beginning in 1962, Harper taught black history courses in Morristown.[16] She was a community outreach worker at Wetmore Towers, a senior citizens housing development, and she helped to sponsor an annual benefit program for Meals on Wheels.[6] She hosted a radio talk show called Youth Speaks Out; Age Speaks Out; Are You Listening?[3] and a performing arts showcase, Extravaganza of the Arts, held at Morristown High School. She was active in the Morristown chapter of the NAACP.

Personal life

Harper died of a heart attack in 1979, while driving in Morristown;[17] she was 75 years old.[3][18] Her papers, including a 1970 self-published autobiography,[4] are archived in the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center, at the Morristown Library.[19]

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See also

Other actresses portraying Aunt Jemima:

References
  1. Kern-Foxworth, Marilyn (1994). Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Rastus: Blacks in advertising, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Public Relations Review. 16 (Fall):59. Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014.
  2. "Miss Ethel Harper Assumes Duties of President of City Federation". The Birmingham Reporter. October 1, 1932. p. 5. Retrieved June 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Ethel Harper, Actress Was Aunt Jemima In Ads for Pancakes". The New York Times. April 3, 1979. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  4. Harper, Ethel Ernestine (1970). The autobiography of Ethel Ernestine Harper. Place of publication not identified: Ethel E. Harper. OCLC 50391469.
  5. "Local Talent Presents Play at State College". The Birmingham Reporter. January 21, 1933. p. 3. Retrieved June 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Potter, Ginny (September 18, 1974). "The Potter's Wheel". Daily Record. p. 5. Retrieved June 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "The Ginger Snaps". Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks. 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  8. "'Negro Follies' Troupe Stranded in Rome". Jet: 60. August 5, 1954.
  9. "Ethel 'Aunt Jemima' Harper Dies at 75". Jet: 60. April 19, 1979.
  10. Gasman, Marybeth (May 1, 2009). Envisioning Black Colleges: A History of the United Negro College Fund. JHU Press. pp. note 19. ISBN 978-0-8018-9185-4.
  11. "Edith Wilson Papers". Chicago Public Library. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  12. Armstrong, Zach (October 1, 2019). "Etta Cox a staple of Northside jazz". The Northside Chronicle. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  13. Ingrano, Terrance (February 4, 2019). "Strange But True: 'I'se in town, honey!'". Worcester Telegram. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  14. Davis, Elizabeth (June 3, 2019). "'Aunt Jemima,' born in St. Joseph, MO". Boonville Daily News - Boonville, MO. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  15. "Ethel Harper". Daily Record. April 4, 1979. p. 4. Retrieved June 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. Tinebra, Karen (February 28, 1974). "Ethel Harper Recalls Life Filled with 'Good People'". The Herald-News. p. 23. Retrieved June 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "'Aunt Jemima' Dies". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. April 3, 1979. p. 33. Retrieved June 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Ethel Ernestine Harper, 'Aunt Jemima', Dies at 75". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 4, 1979. p. 67. Retrieved June 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Finding Aid to the Ethel Earnestine Harper Papers, 1905-1981". Morristown and Morris Township Library. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
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