Eliza Lucas Pinckney’s Gown When Eliza Lucas was sixteen years old in 1738, she took over day-to-day management of her father’s rice plantations. Highly educated, independent, and energetic, Lucas introduced numerous innovations on the plantations, including the cultivation of indigo—which became a major export crop in South Carolina—and silkworms. The gown shown here was made for her out of silk produced on her plantation. Division of Home and Community Life, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.