| PHILADELPHIA HAT DESIGNER HONORED BY SMITHSONIAN
 |
| Hatter Mae Reeves receiving an honorary Liberty Bell |
| |
 |
| Donna Limerick (center) and others modeling her mother's hats acknowledge Mae Reeves at the end of the ceremony at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. |
| |
 |
| Mae Reeves hat |
| |
 |
| Mae Reeves hat on a model |
| |
 |
| Mae Reeves hat |
Guess what, hatters are now being recognized by the world.
Last week the 60-year millinery career of Philadelphia hatter Mae Reeves was on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The event honored Reeves' accomplishments as a hat designer and millinery shop owner. It turns out that Reeves was one of the first African Americans to establish a business in downtown Philadelphia.
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.
In addition to being presented with a ceremonial Liberty Bell, local television personalities modeled Reeves designs. Midway through the ceremony, held in the auditorium of the African American Museum in Philadelphia, a short video was shown that was produced by one of her nine grandchildren.
Now 97 and living in a retirement home in Darby, Reeves arrived in a stylish wheelchair upholstered in teal leatherette. She wore her favorite hat, a cloche layered in shiny black feathers with an emerald and turquoise gleam.
The Smithsonian's permanent collection will now include 30 hats by Reeves and several pieces of antique furniture from Mae's Millinery shop in West Philadelphia.
When asked about her career making hats the 97-year-old hatter had this to say: "I was just so happy, especially to make hats that did something to the lady. You know, you can make a hat but it might not be for you. But when you make hats, especially for a face, I think that's something that's given to you."
Having grown up in Georgia and studied millinery in Chicago, a reporter asked 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!"
Her daughter Donna Limerick 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.
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.
"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.
"Because of her, we can keep reaching and dreaming," she said.
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. |