Maggie Mae Hathaway (July 1, 1911 – September 24, 2001) was an American activist, blues singer, actress, sports writer and golfer. She began her career as an actress before venturing into recording in Los Angeles where she released a few singles. Hathaway became known in the 1950s for her activism and golfing. She co-founded the
NAACP Image Awards
The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...
in 1967.
Life and career
A native of
Campti, Louisiana
Campti is a town in the northern part of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,056 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Natchitoches Micropolitan Statistical Area. Campti is a flat area of mostly farmland. It is l ...
, Hathaway traveled to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
in 1931 in hopes of playing piano in one of the clubs on Central Avenue, also known as "Black Broadway". Instead, she began her career in the area working as an extra in Hollywood films, usually as an "Egyptian" or an "exotic." After auditioning for ''
Cabin in the Sky'', Hathaway was hired as a body double for
Lena Horne throughout much of the film; she later worked as Horne's stand-in in ''
Stormy Weather''.
However, her Hollywood career ended when she refused to play an extra in a biopic about
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
which required her to wear a bandanna and sit on a bale of cotton.
She then returned to singing in cabaret in Los Angeles clubs, recording several songs including “Bayou Baby Blues”, “School Girl Blues”, “A Falling Star”, and “When Gabriel Blows His Horn” with
The Robins
The Robins were a successful and influential American R&B group of the late 1940s and 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound. They were founded by Ty Terrell, and twin brothers Bi ...
and “Here Goes a Fool” as a solo artist.
During the civil rights movement, Hathaway became a major activist in the Los Angeles-Hollywood region. After she took up golf as a pastime after winning a bet against
Joe Louis in 1955,
she began agitating against local golf courses which restricted black patrons from usage.
By 1958, she began writing a golf column in the ''
California Eagle
The ''California Eagle'' (1879–1964) was an African-American newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded as ''The Owl'' in 1879 by John J. Neimore.
Charlotta Bass became owner of the paper after Neimore's death in 1912. She owned and ...
'' about black professional players. She also wrote a golf column in the ''
Los Angeles Sentinel
The ''Los Angeles Sentinel'' is a weekly African-American owned newspaper published in Los Angeles, California. The paper boasts of reaching 125,000 readers , making it one of the oldest, largest and most influential African-American newspapers ...
''.
In 1960, Hathaway organized the Minority Association for Golfers (MAG) to support young black golfers by advocating for golf-related employment.
In 1963, Hathaway led a picket during the
PGA at the Long Beach municipal golf course to protest a lack of golf jobs for black professional golfers. She also campaigned for an increase black player participation in PGA tournaments.
Her agitation spread to broader issues. Hathaway became the founding president of the newly-chartered Beverly Hills-Hollywood branch of the
NAACP in 1962. In 1967, she joined with
Sammy Davis, Jr. and
Willis Edwards in holding the first
NAACP Image Awards
The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...
.
In 1975, Hathaway petitioned for
Lee Elder
Robert Lee Elder (July 14, 1934 – November 28, 2021) was an American professional golfer. In 1975, he became the first African-American to play in the Masters Tournament, where he missed the cut. Elder was invited to the tournament after he w ...
to be invited to play in the
Masters Tournament.
During the following decades, she continued to write for the ''Los Angeles Sentinel''. She organized opportunities for young minorities to play and received financial help from PGA players, including
Jack Nicklaus.
Hathaway died on September 24, 2001.
Personal life
She was married four times to different husbands, including
King Coleman (from 1979 to 1984). Her daughter Ondra Louise Fleming was born in 1936.
Legacy
In 1994, Hathaway was inducted into the National Black Golf hall of Fame.
The Jack Thompson Golf Course in Los Angeles was renamed the Maggie Hathaway Golf Course in 1997.
Discography
* 1947: Maggie Hathaway And Her Bluesmen – "Here Goes A Fool" / "Too Late To Be Good Blues" (
Black & White 113)
* 1950: Maggie Hathaway With The Robins And 2 Sharps And A Natural – "A Falling Star" / "When Gabriel Blows His Horn" (
Recorded In Hollywood 121)
Filmography
She had numerous uncredited roles in films.
*''
Gang Smashers
''Gang Smashers'', also released as ''Gun Moll'', is an American film released in 1938. It features an African American cast. Leo C. Popkin directed the Million Dollar Productions film from a screenplay by Ralph Cooper. The University of South C ...
''
References
External links
Maggie Hathawayon
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hathaway, Maggie
1911 births
2001 deaths
NAACP activists
African-American golfers
American blues singers
20th-century African-American women singers
African-American actresses
African-American sports journalists
Recorded In Hollywood artists
People from Natchitoches, Louisiana
Actresses from Louisiana
American female golfers
Singers from Louisiana
20th-century American people
Women civil rights activists