Role of Black Children in U.S. Tea Production (1800s)

Steeping Around With Rekaya

In teatime, host Rekaya Gibson features American Classic Tea by Charleston Tea Garden. In tea talk, she discusses the role of colored (Black) children who picked tea at Pinehurst Tea Plantation (Summerville, South Carolina) in the 1800s. Dr. Charles Shepard, the plantation owner, manages to produce award winning teas with their help. Gibson attributes the early success of growing tea in the United States to Black children. In tea news, she announces that the Kenya Tea Development Agency Limited Board approved an increase in monthly green leaf payments for farmers.

Mentioned in This Episode:

American Classic Tea – www.charlestonteagarden.com

Charleston Tea Garden – www.charlestonteagarden.com

Dr. Charles U. Shepard, Owner of Pinehurst Tea Plantation, Summerville, South Carolina

Sources:

Kiel, A. (2021, September 1). KTDA Enhances Tea Farmer Earnings, Approves Green Leaf Payment Increase. World Tea News. https://www.worldteanews.com/origins/ktda-enhances-tea-farmer-earnings-approves-green-leaf-payment-increase

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. (1898 - 1931). Pinehurst Tea Gardens, Summerville, South Carolina. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47da-5468-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Shepard, C. U. (1899) Tea culture: The Experiment in South Carolina. Washington, Govt. print. off. [Web.] Library of Congress. https://lccn.loc.gov/agr09001862.

South Carolina Historical Society. (2019, February 8). State's 1st Child Labor Law Passed February 1903. The Sumter Item. https://www.theitem.com/stories/states-1st-child-labor-law-passed-february-1903,322461