Not Your Momma's History

01/19/2026

Number 2- Georgia Gilmore and Sweet Potato Pie



Additional Reading
NYTimes article: Overlooked No More: Georgia Gilmore, Who Fed and Funded the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Klancy Miller

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman
Household Workers Unite: The Untold Story of African American Women Who Built a Movement by Premilla Nadasen

Montgomery Bus Boycott: Women Who Started It by Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, David J. Garrow

Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott By Dee Romito

Video credit
Interview with Georgia Gilmore in 1985, conducted by Blackside, Inc., for “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years (1954-1965).” Washington University Libraries, Film and Media Archive, Henry Hampton Collection. Eyes on the Prize InterviewsImages from Montgomery Advertiser, AP Photo, and Library of Congress

07/04/2025

Video was taken at Camp Nelson National Monument massive recruitment and training center for United States Colored Troops and a refugee camp for their families. Additional filming at Camp Nelson National Cemetery, which was primarily a burial ground for Union soldiers during the Civil War, but also included employees who worked at Camp Nelson, and some civilian family members of USCT soldiers.

06/06/2025

Look what’s going to be in the NY Times style section this Sunday!

The Pinkster Stroll is not your average New York fashion show.

05/28/2025

As a historical interpreter, researcher, artist, and designer, Cheyney McKnight incorporates 18th and 19th-century African American design skills to create pieces with a modern twist.

04/30/2025

Horace Smith was extremely talented and a great friend. I really just need for y’all to know this man. Deepest condolences to his family.

02/21/2025

To my surprise at this year’s Forrest E. Mars Heritage Chocolate Society Meeting I was awarded along with Dontavius Williams, the inaugural Heroes of History award. We were also given $5000 each to go towards our work. Thank you American Heritage Chocolate, Mars Wrigley, and Ms. Jackie Mars. This is the first professional award I have received and I feel proud to have been selected. I encourage Mars Wrigley to continue to search out talented interpreters to support, highlight, and encourage through this award.

Interpreters depicted- Dontavius Williams, Willie and Hope Wright, Tonia Galban and her son, Ranger Steve, Harold Caldwell, Hugh Goffinet

01/15/2025

Thank you Ms. Tonya Hopkinsfor supporting me through that day at the hearth. Thank you to and the staff for lending us your hearth and providing support. Email [email protected]

08/27/2024

Exhibit - September 7 & 8, 2024 Presentation Hall
Lecture - September 7, 3:30 p.m. Robins Foundation Theater.

In conjunction with Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation’s Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design special exhibition, our exhibition “The Ancestor’s Future: An Afrofuturist’s Journey Through Time” at Jamestown Settlement September 7 & 8. Cheyney will present a lecture on her work, Saturday, September 7 at 3:30 p.m. in the Robins Foundation Theater.

“Cheyney McKnight, artist, historian, and founder/owner of “Not Your Momma’s History” will share a curated experience through Black America’s past to an imagined future. Her exhibit, on view at Jamestown Settlement for one weekend only, explores her approach to Afrofuturism; one in which Black bodies and communities finally reap the full benefits of their labor, resources, ingenuity and creativity.”

“McKnight will welcome visitors to Jamestown Settlement’s Presentation Hall to view her artwork, photographs and clothing and engage in conversation on September 7 and 8.”

07/14/2024

Upon the death of Martha Washington, Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis Lewis inherited 37 enslaved men, women, and children. By 1810, the enslaved population of Woodlawn had reached 74 people.

It is highly likely that Dolcey, who was enslaved by Martha Washington and worked in the mansion at Mount Vernon, was also responsible for caring for Nelly as a girl. At Woodlawn, Dolcey and her children, including Sukey, worked as seamstresses. They demonstrated their talent on a daily basis, making and mending clothing for all who lived at Woodlawn, though their labor went unrecognized.

You can learn more about Dolcey and Sukey in the exhibit “Woodlawn: People & Perspectives.”

07/11/2024

I am so excited for this weekend! Camp Nelson National Monument here I come!

06/17/2024

“On Sunday, June 23, Keeler Tavern Museum and History Center (KTM&HC) will host Cheyney McKnight for “Designing the Black American Cultural Costume.” Tickets are on sale now on the website. Join us on June 23 at 3 p.m. as artist and historical interpreter Cheyney McKnight explores her creative process in designing garments in 18th- and 19th-century European American silhouettes, using fabrics that speak to experiences from throughout the African diaspora. McKnight will share with audiences how the clothing she designs helps to tell the stories of Black Americans in the past, present, and future, as well as make new connections within her community. Various garments will be on display to help bring McKnight’s work to life at an event that compellingly combines history, fashion, textile design, and futurism.”

Buy tickets at https://keelertavernmuseum.org/events/494/designing-the-black-american-cultural-costume/

06/12/2024

Yay!!!!