Sugar Kettle for Our Mammy's Living History Site

Hello, I am Cynthia, the owner of Redthreaded Corsets. We're big fans of the educational and genealogical work that Gaynell has been doing through her business Our Mammy's. We are excited to host this fundraiser with the goal of providing Gaynell with a sugar kettle for her educational site in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana. We're also hoping this fundraiser will bring her important work to new audiences and spark further engagement and learning.

About Our Mammy's

Our Mammy’s shares the stories of Louisiana’s African Americans through the lens of the founder’s ancestors—what they contributed, how they survived, why it’s important—so that future generations can understand what was sacrificed and be inspired by all the ancestors have accomplished in the face of adversity. From 2013 to 2019, Mammy's has served over 25,000 people via free community events and programs. You can read more about Our Mammy's on their website (link).

Why a Sugar Kettle -- In Gaynell's Words

Early sugar mills in Louisiana were open kettle mills.  Large cast iron pots were placed over an open furnace and used to boil and extract sugar cane juice.  The harvesting and grinding season was very hard work for African Americans working on the plantation and in the sugar mills. I would like to use a sugar kettle to facilitate discussions about African American lives on Louisiana’s sugar plantations.

Currently, I use ropes or any other large surface to describe the size of the pot used for sugar processing. It is very challenging for the kids to grasp how dangerous this process was for my ancestors and others like them.  I have acquired some sugar cane stalks to plant on the land and I felt it wouldn’t be pleasing to my ancestors to discuss sugar cane and omit the processing of the cane.

More about the 9th Ward site and Gaynell's Vision for it

Our Mammy's 9th Ward site is located on land that used to be cypress swamp lands.  This area was undeveloped land north of the many sugar cane plantations that adorned the Mississippi River. I especially love this site because I call this territory Freedom Land.  Many Freedom Seekers escaped to the swamps to avoid being enslaved on the plantation.  I like to tell Our Mammy’s program participants, “ the back of the plantation was jumping with education, freedom plans, and family gatherings.” My goal is to continue to use this land to offer virtual visits for schools, museums, and other groups.  I started this project in 2019, and slowly we are building facades and camps that correlate with events in African American history. 

Follow Our Mammy's

In addition to your financial support, we encourage you to follow Our Mammy's on social media:

Instagram @ourmammys

Facebook.com/ourmammys

And you can book Our Mammy's for virtual or hands-on workshops, presentations, girl scout projects, and more at ourmammys .com

All funds generated by this fundraiser will be passed directly to Our Mammy's LLC. The goal amount of this fundraiser is the approximate cost of a new, reproduction cast iron Sugar Kettle delivered to Our Mammy's in New Orleans. Any funds raised above the cost of the sugar kettle will go towards further landscaping and improvements to the Lower 9th Ward site.