"Clementine Hunter" (late December 1886or early January 1887-January 1,1988) pronounced Clementeen.

She was born on Hidden Hill Plantation near Cloutierville,Louisiana;a place so isolated that

harsh local legend claimed that it was real-life inspiration for Uncle Tom's Cabin.Her family moved north to the Cane River Area when she was a child,and eventually moved to Melrose Plantation near Natchitoches,where Clementine spent a lot of her life picking cotton.She attended school for 10 just 10 days and never learned to read or write.Later,she cooked for the big house,using her creative spirit to make dolls for the children,as well as quilts,baskets,and lace curtains.She was the granddaughter of a slave,born just two decades after the Civil War,she was the eldest of seven children to creole parents at Hidden Hill Plantation.Her mama was Antoinette Adams and her daddy Javier (John) Reuben a field hand.Her parents were married on October 15,1890.Her maternal grandparents were Idoole,a former slave,and Billy Zack Adams.Clementine paternal grandfather was "an old Irishman and her grandmother,"African American Native American called "MeMe"(prounced May-May).Her first two children,Joseph (Frenchie) and Cora,were fathered by Charlie Dupree whom she never marry.Charlie died around 1914 and she married Emmanuel Hunter,a woodchooper at Melrose,in 1924.The two lived and worked at Melrose Plantation for many years .Clementine worked as a field hand in her early years and as a cook and housekeeper.beginning in the late 1920s,she bore seven children,two stillborn.One the morning before giving birth to one of her children,she picked 78,pounds of cotton,went home and called for the midwife and was back picking cotton a few days later.Clementine lived her entire life in rural northwest Louisiana,never going more than 100 miles from home.She was self taught.Melrose Plantation became a mecca for the arts under the guidance of its owner.Numerous artists visited,including Lyle Saxon,Roark Bradford,Alexander Woolcott,Rose Franken,Gwen Bristow,& Richard Avedon.Brushes and discarded tubes of paint left by New Orleans artist Albert Kinsey after a 1939 visit to Melrose Plantation,were used by Clementine to "mark a picture on a window shade,beginning her career as an artist.She gained support from numerous individuals associated with Melrose Plantation,including Francois Mignon,plantation curator,who supplied her with paint materials,and promoted her widely and James Register,with Francois help Clementine's paintings were displayed in the local drugstore,where for one dollar.In her later years,she co-authored "Melrose Plantation cookbook"with Francois.On the outside of the unpainted cabin where she lived was a sign that read,"Clementine Hunter,Artist 25 cents to look.She produced 4 & 5 thousand paintings in her lifetime.Clementine was the first African-American artist to have a solo exhibition at the Delgado Museum (now the New Orleans Museum of Art) and achieved a significant amount of  success during her lifetime,including an invitation to the White House from U.S. President Jimmy Carter and letters from President Ronald Reagan and Senator J.Bennett Johnson .Radcliffe College included her in its "Black Women Oral History Project,published in 1980.Northwestern State University of Louisiana granted her an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts,degree in 1986 & 1987,Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards made her an honorary colonel and aide-de-camp.
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