If a photograph of Ellen Valenton ever existed, it didn’t survive nearly two centuries.

So I have no idea if she left her house in New Orleans’ 10th Ward wearing a tignon. 

But Ellen was exactly who Tignon Laws were designed to oppress.

New Orleans’ femmes des couleur libre—free women of color—held a unique social status. They owned their own property and businesses, exercised their legal rights, and some achieved a net worth upward of $10,000.

With all this access, they’d become white men’s companions, white women’s competition, and total chaos to a social hierarchy established on skin color.

And Ellen DID leave a glimpse of that chaos behind.

Starting with the 1860 U.S. Census, she and her daughters are magically “white” then “negro” over and over again.

So, since they weren’t always clearly identifiable and could all use a visible reminder of their place, women of color — whether light or dark, free or enslaved — were forced to identify as a “slave class” whose hair would be covered in public with “tignons.”

But the moment Empress Joséphine Bonaparte saw women of all skin colors wearing gorgeous tignons and started wearing one of her own, the femmes des couleur libre’s Scarlet Letter was suddenly mainstream fashion.

So I can’t know for sure if Ellen wore a tignon for the culture, for the style, or if she refused altogether.

But I’m absolutely certain of the rest.

Because Ellen Valenton is my great-great-great-grandmother.

So I walked into @fanmdjanm (Haitian Kreyol for “strong woman”) less focused on spending money than what I had to gain.

Rich silk, crisp cotton, and buttery jersey lined a full wall like paint samples of both vibrant color and vivid history, with each one calling to mind some photograph, painting, or real life experience with women across the African diaspora.

But I can only imagine Ellen.

And when I do, a portrait comes to mind: Jacques Amans’ “Creole in a Red Headdress.”

I wonder how many other women walk into Fanm Djanm with that same vision.

And how many more walk out completely unaware that their paper bag is carrying a crown.

Find one to fit you at fanmdjanm.com. 🖤

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