By: Abigail Britton
“You’re not fully dressed unless you wear a hat.” Mae Reeves was an entrepreneur, activist, artist, and pioneer of fashion. Reeves was one of the first women of color to own her own business in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is most well-known for her intricate custom-made hats. Over the course of her stores’ 56 years of operation, her creations became symbols of dignity and womanhood to other African American women in Philadelphia. Undoubtedly, Reeves is a symbol of hard-work, vision, and dedication.
Early Life
Mae Reeves was born Lula Mae Grant in 1912. She was born in Georgia and spent most of her childhood there. When Reeves was 16, she received her teaching certification and began to teach in Lyons, Georgia. In addition to teaching, she also worked as a writer for the Savannah Tribune newspaper, writing “about social, school, and church affairs.” During her summers off, Reeves traveled to stay with family in Chicago. While there, she attended the Chicago School of Millinery, where she learned how to make hats.
In 1934, Reeves moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in search of economic opportunity. As a widowed mother, she had to leave her son behind with his grandfather to make a better life for the both of them. This was a common experience for many African Americans living in the Jim Crow South at the time and historians now refer to this exodus as the Great Migration. When Reeves arrived in Philadelphia, she began to work at Seymour’s Ladies Apparel Shop. She made hats for the shop but had always dreamed of owning her own store.
Mae’s millinery shop
At the age of 28, Reeves’ dream of opening her own business came true. She was able to secure a $500 loan (worth about $9,000 today) from Citizens and Southern Bank, which was a black-owned bank. With that loan, she opened Mae’s Millinery Shop, where she sold hats to all types of women – celebrities, professionals, schoolteachers, socialites, etc. Celebrities such as Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Marian Anderson, and Lena Horne were frequent purchasers. Reeves’ hats were known for their outstanding “quality and aesthetic appeal.”
One of the things that made Reeves’ store unique was that she made buying a hat an experience for everyone who entered the store. Champagne and sherry were often served to clients. Reeves also kept makeup at the store to allow women to “freshen up” when trying on the hats. Women from all walks of life would sit next to each other and converse while picking out their hats. Because of her ingenuity, Reeves’ store became a staple in the Philadelphia community.
The store was not just a place to purchase a hat, but it was a center for women’s empowerment. Women, particularly African American women, had a place to go where they were treated with dignity and compassion. Tiffany Gill, an author who has written on African American women’s activism within the beauty industry, said the following regarding hat stores at the time: “For black women who grew up in the Jim Crow era…hats were a way for them to take ownership over their style, a way for them to assert that they mattered.” This was one of the few places at the time where all women could be treated equally. Reeves’ artistry gave women an outlet to express themselves through fashion and the opportunity to find community.
civil rights activist
In 1953, Mae’s Millinery Shop had grown so well-known that she moved and re-opened her store in West Philadelphia near other successful businesses. Reeves’ store continued to cross “lines of class and race.” The store was a meeting place for people from all walks of life and became a community institution.
Reeves was a member of the NAACP and was actively involved in her community. Her store was a meeting place for “the city’s politically engaged.” On election days, the store transformed into a polling station. Local politicians would stop by the store during these times and partake in the community that Reeves had built. In addition to the store being a place of women’s empowerment, her store also “served as a place of civic engagement and racial integration.”
Reeve’s legacy
Mae’s Millinery Shop was open for more than 50 years. In fact, Reeves asked that the store remain open even after she moved to a retirement home in case she wanted to come back to make more hats. The contents of her store were eventually donated to the Smithsonian. Her hats are now in a permanent exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Reeves lived a long life of 104 years and eventually passed away in 2016. While she was never able to visit her exhibit due to her passing, she participated in an interview with the Smithsonian about the exhibit prior to its opening. During that interview she stated that making hats “was a calling for [her], something that [she] loved to do…” As it is clear to see, the legacy of Mae Reeves is not just that of fashion and self-expression, but of artistry, perseverance, activism, and entrepreneurship.
Abbie Britton, at the time of this post, is a third-year law student at Penn State Dickinson Law. She is a former graduate of York College of Pennsylvania, with a degree in Business Administration and a focus on Human Resource Management. She plans to pursue a career in Employment Law after obtaining her law degree.
Sources:
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/hats-mae-reeves
https://smithsonian.tumblr.com/post/159500673912/maes-millinery-shop
