From February 2023
For the next installment of our Black History Month series, we’d like you to meet Emma Dupree! Big thanks to @alysonsimplygrows for two of her blog posts that were great resources for this highlight. You can find them at her website, herbalacademy.com.
Emma Dupree grew up in Eastern North Carolina, and was the daughter of formerly enslaved parents. She loved the outdoors and spent her childhood exploring the woods and learning about plants. She grew into a masterful herbalist who was deeply familiar with the medicinal properties of the plants in her native Fountain, NC.
She became a renowned community healer who would treat her neighbors no matter their ability to pay. She grew a cornucopia of medicinal plants in her home garden, and her extensive knowledge and willingness to teach led her to become a mentor for herbalists in the Southeast and beyond.
In the 70s, @eastcarolinauniv produced a documentary about her called “Little Medicine Thing” after a nickname. She eventually received multiple awards from the state of North Carolina for her contributions. Pitt County residents think of her as “The original Earth mother” (@gvldailyreflector) and celebrate her legacy before Earth Week every year.
Black women have a long history with herbalism in the United States. Many enslaved Africans brought herbal knowledge with them when they were forcibly brought to the Americas. In Alyson Morgan’s words, “Plants brought more than healing to enslaved Africans; they brought light, flavor, connection, remembrance, and joy into the otherwise dire and cruel living conditions experienced under slavery and subsequent economic and social oppression.” Through incredible perseverance, Black women continued to pass down ancestral and learned knowledge through generations.
Have you ever treated a malady with herbs? Who is your favorite herbal healer?
Sources: “Roots of African American Herbalism: Herbal use by Enslaved Africans” and “Black Herbalist Spotlight: Emma Dupree” from @alysonsimplygrows, @gvldailyreflector, @sowtrueseed, Farming While Black
