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Smithsonian Honors Philadelphia Hat-maker
Lula Mae Reeves
July 27, 2010
At the African American Museum in Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Inquirer – Wednesday, July 28, 2010
CHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
Taking a bow, Donna Limerick (center) and others modeling her mother's hats acknowledge Mae
Reeves, top photo, at the end of the ceremony at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. Thirty
of Reeves' hats will become part of the Smithsonian's permanent collection.
Posted on Wed, Jul. 28, 2010
Smithsonian honors Philadelphia hat-maker
By Melissa Dribben, Inquirer Staff Writer
Donna Limerick had always believed her mother was a pioneer.
Not many women in the 1940s had the gumption and the bank loans to start their own business.
Especially not African American women. Especially not African American women who designed and
made millinery in Philadelphia.
Still, Limerick didn't want to be presumptuous. She wasn't sure that her mother's legacy would qualify
for the Smithsonian. A documentary producer for National Public Radio, Limerick had heard that the
Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture was looking for
compelling stories about black families and culture. With modest expectations, she nominated her
mother, Mae Reeves.
Tuesday, two of the museum's curators attended a ceremony honoring Reeves and announced that 30
hats and several pieces of antique furniture from Mae's Millinery shop in West Philadelphia will become
part of the Smithsonian's permanent collection.
"Oh, God bless you," Reeves said, as television cameras closed in on her. She'd just been handed a
softball-sized bronze model of the Liberty Bell that clanged happily in her lap.
"It's our biggest honor," said Melanie Johnson, city representative, apologizing that Mayor Nutter
couldn't make the event. He was in Washington for a meeting, representing the U.S. Conference of
Mayors, but promised to make a personal visit upon his return.
"Oh my goodness!" Reeves said.
Now 97 and living in a retirement home in Darby, she arrived in a stylish wheelchair upholstered in
teal leatherette. Her arthritic knees were covered by a black chenille blanket to match her beaded
black jacket and dress. She wore a hat (of course) - one of her favorites, a cloche layered thickly in
shiny black feathers with an emerald and turquoise gleam.
For more than 50 years, until 1997 when she retired at 85, Reeves ran her own store, first on South
Street and later on North 60th Street. She sold to stars such as Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne and Marian
Anderson; the social and political elite like Leonore Annenberg and C. Delores Tucker; and everyday
women seeking audacious hats.
Philadelphia Inquirer (Continued)
Midway through the ceremony, held in the auditorium of the African American Museum in Philadelphia,
a short video was shown. Produced by one of her nine grandchildren, it captures Reeves in a sparky
exchange with her daughter.
Having grown up in Georgia and studied millinery in Chicago, Limerick asks Reeves, "Why did you
come to Philadelphia?"
"Because I knew people!" Reeves says.
"You had a lot of celebrities as customers."
"Yeaaahhhhhh," she chuckles. "I made stuff that they wanted!"
Although all who attended had been asked to wear hats, about half in the crowd of about 50 failed to
comply - including Johnson, the city representative.
"I couldn't find one that didn't overwhelm my dress," she said apologetically. In her remarks, Johnson
praised Reeves for helping to pave the way for black businesswomen. "Because of her, we can keep
reaching and dreaming," she said.
Reeves "inspired a generation of entrepreneurs," said her grandson, Joel Limerick, who runs a data
systems company in Washington. He introduced his uncle, William "Sonny" Mincey, who ran an ice
cream store across from Mae's Millinery for 12 years.
Speaking from under the wide brim of her fuchsia straw hat, Michele Gates Moresi of the Smithsonian
said Reeves' hats represented "an important acquisition" for the new African American museum,
scheduled to open on the National Mall in 2015.
After Reeves' daughter first told her about the hats two years ago, she said, they had not been in
touch. Then in April 2009, she got a call. A leak had sprung in the pipes of Reeves' now-shuttered
shop and the family was worried that the hats still stored there might be ruined. "I thought I might
have to give them to Goodwill," said Limerick. She phoned Moresi and three days later, a white-gloved
team from the Smithsonian arrived to inspect the shop. This is history here, they told Limerick.
Tuesday, a jazz trio played. Crab cakes and wine were served on black tablecloths tied with lipstick
pink ribbons. "Pink and black are Mae's favorite colors," her daughter explained. Models - some hipswishing professionals, others game anchors and one meteorologist from local television stations appeared on stage wearing hats from Limerick's personal collection (not the museum's.)
Other than baseball caps and lately, the stingy-brimmed fedora, hat-wearing "is so not of our
generation," said one of Reeves' bareheaded granddaughters. It was hard to imagine what it must
have been like to step out of Mae's Millinery in something so festooned and fabulous.
"Are you ready for the showstopper?" Limerick asked. Applause. But not enough.
"Are you ready for the showstopper?" she asked again. Better.
Removing her black velvet hat blooming with clusters of glittery pink roses, Limerick turned around,
stooped low, then reemerged wearing one of her mother's boldest. An enormous awning of black
feathers, soaring from her forehead like an ostrich's tail.
Beaming, she stepped off stage and strutted through the crowd. "A showstopper, right?"
SATURDAY, 24 JULY 2010 17:43
WRITTEN BY BOBBI BOOKER TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
From the 1940s to 1990s, Mae Reeves was one of Philadelphia’s most successful millinery
designers. As one of the first African-American women to establish a business in the downtown
area of the city, Reeves relocated her successful business to West Philadelphia and for several
decades created hats that were a very
special part of every woman’s wardrobe.
Mae Reeves, a famous Philadelphia hat
designer from the 1930s to the 1980s,
admires hats she created. Reeves’ hat
collection will become part of the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of African
American
History
and
Culture
in
Washington,
D.C.
-ABDUL
R.
SULAYMAN/TRIBUNE
CHIEF
PHOTOGRAPHER
In April 2009, the Smithsonian’s National
Museum of African American History and
Culture (NMAAHC) acquired part of
Reeves’ extensive hat collection, antique furniture from her millinery shop and other personal
items to tell the story about her illustrious career.
Reeves, now 97, recently discussed her contributions to the fashion world in a special interview
conducted by her daughter, former NPR documentary producer Donna Limerick and NMAAHC
representatives. Her 50-year collection will be part of a permanent fashion exhibit at the
museum, expected to open in 2015.
“It’s a typical American story and as a museum that tells the American story from a Black
perspective, Black businesses play some extent in that,” said Michele Gates Moresi, NMAAHC
curator of collections. “And also, the issue of gender and that women are represented enough
and given their due in the museum, so doing Black women’s businesses certainly makes a lot of
sense.”
During the early 1930s, Reeves attended the Chicago School of Millinery where she learned
how to shape hats with special molds, using steam and wires to hold the shapes. Her goal was
to learn the art of making handmade hats and her favorite work was decorating the hats with
unusual feathers, flowers, bows and other materials. “A hat expresses something special about
a woman’s personality,” said Reeves. “I try to make one-of-a-kind hats so my customers don’t
have to worry about going out and seeing themselves somewhere else. You never want to see
another woman wearing the same hat that you have on.”
On a 1934 visit to her brother in Philadelphia, Reeves decided to make the region her home.
While working sales at Seymour’s Ladies Apparel Shop on South Street in 1936, the owner
taught Reeves business skills such as how to buy the stock, manage the shop and decorate the
windows. At age 28, Reeves secured a $500 bank loan from the Citizens and Southern Bank
(also on South Street) and in 1940, opened Mae’s Millinery Shop at 1630 South St.
Continued....
By 1953, Reeves’ business had grown substantially. At that time the 60th Street area of West
Philadelphia had many prosperous businesses, Woolworth’s 5 & 10 store, several banks, other
women’s and men’s apparel shops and shoe stores – all run by white businessmen. The hat
designer soon found the perfect place for her new shop at 41 N. 60th Street and became the
first African-American woman to own a business on 60th Street corridor.
It was at the 60th Street location where Reeves designed and created some of her most
magnificent hats, including her famous turbans, feather and veil hats. Customers came from as
far north as Boston and as far south as Virginia to order her special creations. Over the next 30
years her customers included Mrs. Philip DuPont, Mrs. Walter Annenberg, women from the
Biddle family, the Honorable C. DeLores Tucker and many others who became friends and
customers. To accommodate customers, Reeves traveled to New York and Paris to find the
best materials of silk, feathers, ribbons, flowers, velvet and ornaments for her ladies hats.
By the 1970s, the world of fashion changed drastically as women began to wear bouffant
hairstyles, wigs and Afros hats were no longer fashionable, except with older women. Reeves
kept the shop open until 1997, retiring when she was 85-years-old. In 2003, at age 91, Reeves
moved to Darby, Pa., where she now resides.
“I always encourage my customers to wear hats that make a statement about fashion and
themselves,” said Reeves. “I love women to wear hats because it makes them look so pretty.
You know, on days when you feel you need a lift hats are a good way to boost your morale.
Every woman should have at least one special hat they can put on strut out the door and say,
‘Here I am, world. I feel good and I know I look good.’”
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter will present Mae Reeves a key to the city during the “Hats Off to Mae Day”
reception at 5 p.m. on July 27 at the African American Museum of Philadelphia, 700 Arch St.
July 27, 2010
Smithsonian interested in creations by local entrepreneur who started her
business 70 years ago!
97-year old Lula Mae Reeves is the first African American woman to open her own business in
downtown Philadelphia.
She became a milliner in the early 1930s making hats and lots of them. "The more I made, the more they
liked them."
She opened her first hat shop on South Street in 1934.
Miss Mae's local customers included Marion Anderson and Lenore Annenberg. She was even sought out
by celebrities like Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald when they visited the city.
Last spring, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture asked to acquire
Mae's hat collection, along with some of the antique tools she used to make them. It as an opportunity to
tell not only Mae's story, but:
"But many, many stories from her life and her business in terms of how African American's lived, how
they became and were productive members of society," said Dr. Renee Anderson, a Smithsonian Museum
specialist.
So Mae was honored with a fashion show, where Action News' own Lisa Thomas-Laury was delighted to
be a model for some of Mae's unique creations.
She was also awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Bell.
"You don't have to own a business to find her inspirational. You just look at her as a woman and know
what's possible," said Philadelphia city representative Melanie Johnson.
And for the several generations of loved ones who gathered to honor Mae she has been much more than
an inspiration.
"She definitely deserves to get the keys to the city, I'm honored that I'm related to her," said great
granddaughter Kasmira Gray.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Smithsonia Honors Philadelphia Hat-maker - Lula Mae Reeves on July 27, 2010
Smithsonia Honors Philadelphia Hat-maker - Lula Mae Reeves on July 27, 2010
Smithsonia Honors Philadelphia Hat-maker - Lula Mae Reeves on July 27, 2010
Smithsonia Honors Philadelphia Hat-maker - Lula Mae Reeves on July 27, 2010
Smithsonia Honors Philadelphia Hat-maker - Lula Mae Reeves on July 27, 2010
Smithsonia Honors Philadelphia Hat-maker - Lula Mae Reeves on July 27, 2010