00:00What You Didn't Know About Black Women Church Hats
00:051. The earliest known traditional hats in history were worn in Thebes and seen on ancient
00:11Egyptian murals. Next there were Phrygian caps that were worn by the freed slaves in Rome,
00:16signifying their independence. As the centuries went by, the traditional use of hats worn by
00:21women in church is said to originate from the Apostle Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 11 15,
00:26which says that women should cover their heads during worship.
00:30Black women have since embraced those words with elaborate church hats.
00:362. During and after slavery, black women who worked as maids and servants broke away from
00:42their uniforms on Sunday and wore decorated hats to service. The hat, no matter what material it
00:48was made from, was adorned with ribbons, bows and flowers. It was the black woman's one day of
00:54individualism. Since then, church hats have gotten bigger and bolder.
01:013. One of America's most famous milliners, or hat maker, is remembered in a new permanent
01:07collection by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American Culture. The work of Mae
01:12Reeves, a milliner to the elite black women at the past, will have her shop recreated in the museum.
01:18During the 1940s and 50s, Mae Reeves supplied original hat creations to Lena Horne, Ella Fett
01:26Gerald, Eartha Kitt, and Marian Anderson. Reeves is now 99 years old and her granddaughter,
01:32Donna Limerick, carries on the memory of her grandmother's legacy by putting Reeves' hats on display.
01:39Women such as Vanilla Bean, aged 94 and another East Coast milliner, kept her shop doors open for decades,
01:47been a millinery on 3rd Street NW. One of her most famous clients was the late Dr. Dorothy Height.
01:555. Black women in church hats were celebrated in the book Crowns, 2000, by Michael Cunningham and Craig
02:02Murberry. The book tells the stories behind black women in their hats.
02:096. Excerpt from book Crowns by by Michael Cunningham and Craig Murberry.
02:14Don't wear a hat whiter than your shoulders. Don't wear a hat that is darker than your shoes.
02:19If your hat has feathers, make sure they are never bent or broken. Sequins don't look good in the
02:24daytime. Easter hats should be white, cream or pastel, even if it's still cold outside.
02:29For a look that is both elaborate and demure, try a chapel veil.
