Black hatmaker from Philadelphia gains national spotlight
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- All month CBS Philadelphia has been highlighting several Black pioneers. We introduce to you a one-of-a-kind hatmaker from Philadelphia whose custom creations are now in the national spotlight.
"If you didn't wear a hat, you're not really well dressed that's what my mom would say," Donna Limerick, daughter of hatmaker Mae Reeves, said.
Limerick stays true to her mother's advice. She's wearing a beautiful hat created by her mother and legendary hatmaker.
Reeves was a pioneer in the fashion industry and known for making custom hats that would adorn the heads of mothers, church ladies and even celebrities.
Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald and Marion Anderson flocked to her store to get some fancy hats. They didn't want everyday hats or, as Reeves would call them, "show stoppers."
Today, these beautiful collectibles are admired at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
Reeves' roots were planted in Philadelphia, and to be specific: West Philadelphia.
William Mincey Jr., also known as "Sonny," is Reeves' oldest child.
"This is her shop. She came here in '52," Mincey said.
"She lived upstairs," Mincey said. "And in the back of the store. This is a huge place it goes deep."
In 1934, Reeves relocated from Georgia to Philadelphia as part of the great migration a time when Black people left southern states where Jim Crow laws were upheld.
Along South Street, Reeves found work at a small women's clothing store.
Her daughter, Limerick says her mother wanted more.
"She went to a place called the Citizens Southern Bank, which was a Black-owned bank on South Street, met with the people and got a $500 loan when she was 28 years old," Limerick said.
Reeves became the first Black woman to own a business on bustling South Street.
In 1947, she reopened her shop in West Philadelphia, "Mae's Millinery," where she remained for 50 years.
Before we could get the hats in the window a lady would be driving by and the hat would be gone in a second.
Limerick and her family created a video inside Mae's Millinery when the shop was still intact.
Reeves was also a member of the NAACP. She used her popularity to encourage Black people to vote.
On Election Day, she would turn her shop into a polling station.
"All I can say about her is she was my inspiration," Mincey said.
The exhibit at the Smithsonian debuted in 2016, the same year Reeves died at the age of 104.
"This is history, this art, this is the way women have lived for many years. We want to preserve this history," Limerick said.
Let us all say hats off to Mae Reeves for making a way.
