#Kin of woman who portrayed Aunt Jemima once sought $2B in compensation

The family of a woman who once portrayed Aunt Jemima once sought $2 billion in compensation from Quakers Oats, according to a new report.

Larnell Evans Jr. — the great-great-grandson of Anna Short Harrington — and his nephew Dannez Hunter sued Quaker Oats’ owner PepsiCo in 2014, alleging Harrington’s likeness was improperly used as its logo and that she helped develop the iconic self-rising pancake mix, the Daily Beast reported.

“In Aunt Jemima, [Quaker Oats] still possesses one of the most recognizable and thus valuable trademarks in history,” the federal suit said. “Defendants actions epitomise what is the worst in corporate America, exemplifying the worst business practices anywhere on the planet.”

Hunter and Evans asked for the $2 billion in compensation, as well as a cut of sales revenue.

The pair argued that the Aunt Jemima image, which Quaker Oats copyrighted in 1936, was based off Harrington’s face as part of her contract with the company. The original contract could not be located.

Quaker Oats, however, has long maintained that Aunt Jemima is a fictional character — and not based on a real person.

A Chicago judge eventually threw out the suit after a five-year legal battle, during which Evans and Hunter represented themselves.

In a dismissal of a subsequent filing in Minnesota, a judge ripped Hunter, who penned the complaint.

“At over 50,000 words, Hunter’s complaint is longer than both The Great Gatsby and the King James Bible’s version of the Book of Genesis,” the filing said, according to the Daily Beast. “The overlong complaint meanders across a vast landscape pocked by conspiracy. Portions of the complaint are written in what appears to be Chinese.”

Harrington was born in 1897 to a family of cotton sharecroppers and raised in North Carolina, according to a biography on the South Carolina Encyclopedia. After taking a job as a cook at Syracuse University sometime between 1933 and 1935, she was one os several actresses hired by Quaker Oats to travel the country portraying “Aunt Jemima” — a gig that earned her national fame.

“She had her own recipes, which was very unique,” Evans told the Daily Beast. “You didn’t hear of people having their own recipes — especially working for Quaker Oats. You would think, working for Quaker Oats, whatever they hired them to do, that’s what they would do. And she was promoting Quaker Oats products. But she was also promoting her own products.”

Harrington, who went on to own two homes and lived “in an area occupied by the black elite of Syracuse,” according to her bio, died in 1955 at age 58.

“Aunt Jemima was not a real person or based on one individual,” the company said in response to the Daily Beast’s story. “During the first few decades of the 20th Century, in support of the already-existing brand, there were women hired to represent Aunt Jemima at public events and in marketing materials.”

News of the 2014 lawsuit comes after Quaker Foods North America announced this month that it was scrapping the controversial logo amid the massive movement for racial equality in wake of George Floyd’s death.

The family of another woman, Lillian Richard, who also portrayed Aunt Jemima ripped the move, saying they didn’t want “history erased.”