Hidden Figures: Mabel Hampton #BlackHERstoryMonth 7/28 (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Mabel Hampton #BlackHERstoryMonth 7/28

Mabel Hampton (May 2, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was an American lesbian activist, a dancer during the Harlem Renaissance, and a philanthropist for both black and lesbian/gay organizations. Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on May 2, 1902, Hampton was only two months old when her mother died. In 1909, the seven-year-old Hampton was put on a train to New York City. Within a year Hampton ran away from that home, having been treated poorly by the family. In 1919, she returned to New York and was imprisoned for prostitution, which she saw as being Lesbian encoded. After serving 13 months of a three year sentence in Bedford Hills, Hampton was released on condition she stayed away from New York. Remaining in the city, in the 1920s Hampton danced in all-black productions for Harlem Renaissance notables, including Jackie "Moms" Mabley. From about 1923 to 1932, she lived in a Harlem apartment at 120 West 122nd Street (which has since been demolished), where she and her neighbors hosted parties and provided safe haven for their lesbian friends. Hampton also performed at Harlem’s Garden of Joy nightclub and the Lafayette Theater (also both demolished). In 1932, Hampton met Lillian Foster. During their 46-year relationship – ended only by Foster’s death in 1978 – they referred to each other as husband and wife. As dance work declined in the 20s, Hampton left the chorus lines. From 1948 until her retirement in 1972, Hampton worked at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. She also returned to domestic work as a cleaning woman for white families in New York City, and Joan Nestle, the daughter of one of these families, went on to be a founder in the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York City. The two struck up a friendship that would later see Hampton become a central figure at the Archives, which Nestle had co-founded in her Upper West Side apartment in 1974. Hampton donated several invaluable archival materials to the Lesbian Herstory Archives, including a large collection of lesbian pulp fiction novels and various collected memorabilia, ephemera, letters, and other records that she had gathered throughout her career and adult life in New York. Joan Nestle also recorded Mabel's oral histories in the late seventies. In these histories, Mabel discusses her relationships with women, her struggles with racism, and her identity as an Black American lesbian in the twentieth century. In 1943, Hampton volunteered for the New York Defense Recreation Committee; as part of this committee, she collected cigarettes and refreshments for American World War II soldiers. With only her working-class income, Hampton managed to patronize performances of the Negro Opera Company, as well as to contribute to the Martin Luther King Memorial Fund and, later, to gay and lesbian organizations. In addition to her financial contributions to gay and lesbian organizations, Hampton marched in the first, historic National Gay and Lesbian March on Washington, which took place in 1979, and she appeared in the films Silent Pioneers and Before Stonewall. She was profiled posthumously in the documentary Not Just Passing Through. In 1984, Hampton spoke before thousands of onlookers at New York City Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade in 1984. In 1985, Mabel was named the grand marshal of the New York City Gay Pride March. That same year, Mabel was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays. Hampton died on October 26, 1989 from pneumonia at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center. #HiddenFigures #MabelHampton ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: http://herstories.prattinfoschool.nyc/omeka/about Mabel Hampton: http://herstories.prattinfoschool.nyc/omeka/collections/show/29 Excerpts from the Oral History of Mabel Hampton: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3174913?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Mabel Hampton Residence: http://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/mabel-hampton-residence/ 'themstory: Mabel Hampton, Black Lesbian New York Entertainer:' https://www.them.us/story/themstory-mabel-hampton 'MABEL HAMPTON: DANCER DURING HARLEM RENAISSANCE AND LGBT HISTORIAN & ACTIVIST:' https://blackthen.com/mabel-hampton-dancer-harlem-renaissance-lgbt-historian-activist/