Eliza Lucas Pinckney

By Christian Pennokee

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

Born in Antigua in 1722

Oldest of 4 children

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

Went to finishing school in London

Studied French, music and botany

Botany was her favorite subject

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

Moved to Charleston, South Carolina in 1738 after her father inherited 3 rice plantations and her mother got sick.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

Eliza’s mother died and she was left to take care of her brothers and sister.

When Eliza was 16 she had to take care of 3 plantations because her father had to go back to the West Indies.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

She experimented with different cash crops then her father sent her indigo seeds. She tried and tried to grow them but they kept dying in the Winter. She shared the seeds with other planters and they finally had a successful crop.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

Indigo is a seed that produces blue dye that was in great demand in European textile industries.

Within 2 years indigo became South Carolina’s best cash crop beside rice.

Different forms of Indigo

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

Eliza was responsible for caring for the slaves that worked on the plantations. She taught them to read and write.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

Married at age 22 to Charles Pinckney who owned a plantation next to hers

They had 4 children whom Eliza educated

Eliza’s husband died in 1758.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

Eliza’s sons, Thomas and Charles were both American generals during the Revolutionary War.

Charles was a signer of the U.S. Constitution.

Thomas was a minister of Spain and Great Britain.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

Eliza continued to run the Pinckney’s plantations until she died in 1793.

George Washington served as one of her pallbearers.

Eliza was the first woman inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 1989.

Bibliography

Contributed by Danuta Bois, 1998.

1. American Women’s History by Doris Weatherford, Prentice Hall General Reference, 19942. Susan B. Anthony Slept Here. A Guide to American Women’s Landmarks by Lynn Sherr and Jurate Kazickas, Random House, 19943. Larousse Dictionary Of Women, edited by Melanie Parry, Larousse, 19964. Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia5. “Eliza Lucas Pinckney,” Distinguished Women of the Past and Present 1998, by Danuta Bois6. Milestones: A Chronology of American Women’s History “Eliza Lucas Pinckney,” by Doris Weatherford Enterprising Women Exhibit, n.d.7. “Eliza Lucas Pinckney,” Info Please, n.d.8. Houghton Mifflin Social Studies United States History: Early Years9. Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts, Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. 200410.Young & Brave: Girls Changing History by Doris Weatherford, National Women’s History Museum

References

1. www.nwhm.org/youngandbrave/pinckney.jpg2. www.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/usa/south-carolina/map.html3. http://www.richardseaman.com/Travel/UK/London/

Highlights/DigitalTowerOfLondon.jpg 4. www.historiclandscape.org/Pinckney.html 5. www.personal.psu.edu/.../ElizaLucazPinckney.jpg6. http://sciway3.net/proctor/state/sc_rice.html7. www.flickr.com/photos/pcoin/249141508/8. www.halo-glaz.com/colors/indigo-blue.html 9. www.fashionjeans.asia/indigo-3.html10. www.flickr.com/photos/madamemckay/3812041164/11. http://entwinements.com/blog-mt3/indigo%20rosettes%28sm%29.jpg12. docsouth.unc.edu/nc/king/ill284.html13. www.flickr.com/photos/etacar11/2976058305/