Mabel Hampton
Mabel Hampton (May 2, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was an American lesbian activist, a dancer during the Harlem Renaissance, and a volunteer for both black and lesbian/gay organizations.

Early life 

Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on May 2, 1902, Hampton was only two months old when her mother died. She was then raised by her grandmother, who died when Hampton was seven years old.

In 1909, the seven-year-old Hampton was put on a train to New York City, where she went to live with her aunt and uncle. Within a year, Hampton ran away from that home, having been raped by her uncle and treated poorly by the family. From ages eight to 17, Hampton lived with a white family in New Jersey.

In 1919, while attending a women-only party in Harlem, Hampton was falsely imprisoned for sex-work. She viewed her imprisonment as being lesbian encoded. After serving 13 months of a three-year sentence in Bedford Hills, Hampton was released on condition she stayed away from New York.

Later life and career 
In the 1920s, Hampton danced in all-black productions for Harlem Renaissance notables, including Jackie "Moms" Mabley. This artistic, political and cultural milieu provided Hampton access to other dancers, artists, and gays and lesbians.

As dance work declined, Hampton left the chorus lines. As quoted by Erin Sexton-Sayler, Hampton explained, "I like to eat." At this point, Hampton began what was to be her longest career: a cleaning woman for white families in New York City. Joan Nestle, the daughter of one of these families, went on to co-found the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York City.

Mabel Hampton enjoyed a romantic and sexual relationship with Lillian B. Foster (November 13, 1894 – August 7, 1978), whom Hampton met in 1932. The two remained a couple until Foster's death in 1978. Along with her lesbian contemporaries, Hampton volunteered for the New York Defense Recreation Committee (1943); as part of this committee, she collected cigarettes and refreshments for American World War II soldiers.

She also converted to Catholicism in 1935, being baptized at St. Thomas the Apostle Church.

With only her working-class income, Hampton managed to attend performances of the Negro Opera Company, as well as to contribute to the Martin Luther King Memorial Fund and, later, to gay and lesbian organizations. In addition, Hampton marched in the first National Gay and Lesbian March on Washington, and she appeared in the films Silent Pioneers and Before Stonewall.

In 1984, Hampton spoke before thousands of onlookers at New York City Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade in 1984; there, she said, "I, Mabel Hampton, have been a lesbian all my life, for 82 years, and I am proud of myself and my people. I would like all my people to be free in this country and all over the world, my gay people and my black people." She was the grand marshal for Pride march in 1985.

Hampton died on October 26, 1989, from pneumonia at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.

Legacy 
She was profiled posthumously in the documentary Not Just Passing Through.

Throughout her career and adult life in New York, Hampton collected memorabilia, ephemera, letters, and other records documenting her history, providing a window into the lives of black women and lesbians during the Harlem Renaissance, which she also donated to the Archives. Hampton left a legacy of invaluable archival materials to the Lesbian Herstory Archives. In particular, she donated her extensive lesbian pulp fiction collection to the Archives in 1976.

In 1992, Joan Nestle delivered the first Kessler Lecture for the CUNY Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, titled "I Lift My Eyes to the Hill": the Life of Mabel Hampton as Told by a White Woman.

External links 
 Not Just Passing Through
 Lesbian Herstory Archives History
 Themstory: Mabel Hampton

Further reading

References

1902 births
1989 deaths
African-American female dancers
American female dancers
African-American dancers
Harlem Renaissance
LGBT African Americans
LGBT people from New York (state)
LGBT people from North Carolina
20th-century American dancers
20th-century African-American women
20th-century African-American people
African-American Catholics
LGBT dancers
Lesbians
LGBT Roman Catholics
Roman Catholic activists
20th-century LGBT people