PAYING HOMAGE TO A HAT LADY EXTRAORDINAIRE: ANNIE MAE McClain

Miss Annie Maes Hats, an exhibit featuring the chapeaus of Annie Mae McClain, will be on display at the Milwaukee County Historical Society from April 3rd to June 4th 2006. The show celebrates the life, pride and fashion sense of a Milwaukee woman who lived for and loved hats. "Hats" also spotlights the deep importance of headgear in African-American culture. Although Miss Annie Mae passed on two years ago her family and friends want to celebrate her life and her hats in this exhibit in Milwaukee.

“The exhibit is Milwaukee's own version of the popular book and play, "Crowns." Sixty-six Annie Mae hats are here, a collection compiled by son Joe and his wife, Carol Lobes, and first displayed in Madison last year. The chapeaus are shown on hat stands of varying heights in a minimalist re-creation of a church meeting of proud hat ladies.”

“And what a heady meeting that would be… Miss Annie Mae bought the hats over decades starting in the 1950s, but the styles go back to '20s cloches. They range from "the elegant to the fun," says Elizabeth Russell, director of public relations at the Historical Society.”

“No hat in the exhibit suffers from shyness. One silver piece resembles a '60s representation of the Telstar satellite. Iridescent lavender leaves swirl around another. Faux sapphires sparkle on one crown and rhinestones catch the light on the buckle of a flashy fedora.”

“Bicorns, tricorns, cartwheels with brims designed to catch the wind - each hat is irresistible. Many are one-of-a-kind designs, including a Jack McConnell pillbox. And no brim came cheap: One still bears an original $156 price tag.”

"Miss Annie Maes Hats," featuring the chapeaus of Annie Mae McClain, will be going on display starting Saturday at the Milwaukee County Historical Society.

"Hats" also features wonderful pictures of the Tabernacle Community Baptist Church congregation that Annie Mae McClain joined when she came to Milwaukee. The city and the church were much-loved destinations for her.

Rumor has it that Miss Annie Mae went out to buy a hat on her death bed. Hats were her passion, and we’re sure the exhibit captures this woman’s hat habit and her exuberance for hats. We salute her vision, her memory -- and her love of hats. She also picked cotton in the fields as a young woman.

MORE HAT EVENTS:

"Wearing Our Crowns," May 6 at 2 p.m. A celebration of song and dance based on the Broadway musical "Crowns," by Regina Taylor, which was based on the book, "Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats." "Church Hats in Milwaukee's African-American Community," May 25 at 7 p.m. Ruth Olson, field researcher for "Miss Annie Mae's Hats," and Corey Coleman, owner of Milwaukee's Heads Up hat shop, will lead a discussion "Miss Annie Mae's Hats" Milwaukee County Historical Society, 910 N. Old World 3rd St. April 1-June 4 Free - for information, call (414) 273-8288 or go to www.milwaukeecountyhistsoc.org.