Current:Home > FinanceHow indigo, a largely forgotten crop, brings together South Carolina's past and present -WealthPro Academy
How indigo, a largely forgotten crop, brings together South Carolina's past and present
View
Date:2025-04-12 23:36:19
Charleston, South Carolina — Sheena Myers makes her indigo soap knowing nothing can scrub away South Carolina's past.
"There's a whole history behind what I'm doing," Myers told CBS News. "…It's real deep."
Indigo dye's beautiful color is shrouded by an ugly history. In the mid-1700s, wealthy South Carolina planters called it "blue gold," a labor-intensive cash crop produced by the sweat of enslaved people.
For Myers, it's personal. Among those enslaved indigo workers was her great-great-grandmother.
Her indigo company, Genotype, sells skincare and medicinal products for psoriasis, peptic ulcers and bronchitis, with annual sales topping $1 million.
"Because they were humiliated, and now I'm being honored" Myers said. "And me being honored is like I'm honoring them as well. I don't think they ever would have thought in a million years they would have a descendant creating things like this."
Down the road, Precious Jennings grows indigo to process its natural dye powder, a farm-to-fabric process that is like digging for healing through the dirt of a former plantation.
"Every day I come onto this land, I honor and think about and give gratitude to the people that were here and enslaved on this land," Jennings said.
Myers wants to pass her business, and family history, to her three sons.
"If they keep this business alive, it won't disappear," Myers said, hoping to grow a new indigo legacy that is rich in humility.
"It will continue," Myers said.
- In:
- slavery
- South Carolina
Mark Strassmann has been a CBS News correspondent since January 2001 and is based in the Atlanta bureau.
veryGood! (756)
Related
- Bodycam footage shows high
- What happens to Olympic medals now that Russian skater Valieva has been sanctioned for doping?
- Sophie Turner and Aristocrat Peregrine Pearson Just Hit a Major Relationship Milestone
- Norfolk Southern is 1st big freight railway to let workers use anonymous federal safety hotline
- House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
- Super Bowl winners and scores: All-time results for every NFL championship game
- COP28 Left a Vacuum California Leaders Aim to Fill
- French police asked for extra pay during Paris Olympics. They will get bonuses of up to $2,000
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Minnesota trooper accused of fatally shooting motorist Ricky Cobb II makes first court appearance
Ranking
- Chief beer officer for Yard House: A side gig that comes with a daily swig.
- Mango’s Sale Has All the Perfect Capsule Wardrobe Staples You Need up to 70% off Right Now
- The Excerpt podcast: AI has been unleashed. Should we be concerned?
- Florida attorneys who criticized discrimination ruling should be suspended, judge says
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Haitian judge seeks to interview widow of slain president in leaked warrant obtained by AP
- Russian opposition figure Kara-Murza has disappeared from prison, colleagues say
- Cher dealt another blow in her request for temporary conservatorship over her son
Recommendation
Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
UN agency confirms 119.8 degrees reading in Sicily two years ago as Europe’s record high temperature
The Excerpt podcast: AI has been unleashed. Should we be concerned?
South Korean health officials urge against eating fried toothpicks after social media trend goes viral
Olympic men's basketball bracket: Results of the 5x5 tournament
France’s government prepares new measures to calm farmers’ protests, with barricades squeezing Paris
Australia, Italy and others halt funding to U.N. agency over claim staff involved in Hamas attack on Israel
Joan Collins Reveals What Makes 5th Marriage Her Most Successful