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.

[2] In 1919, while attending a women-only party in Harlem, Hampton was falsely imprisoned for sex work[3] and was sentenced time in the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women.

[5] Hampton then participated in the New York Defense Recreation Committee (1943), collecting cigarettes and other "refreshing" items for American World War II soldiers.

She joined the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York City in the mid-1970s, an organization co-founded by her good friend, Joan Nestle.

[1] Hampton was able to contribute to the Martin Luther King Memorial Fund as well as gay and lesbian organizations in spite of her working-class income.

She also attended performances of the Negro Opera Company, and appeared in the films Silent Pioneers and Before Stonewall, which both document the struggle for obtaining gay rights.

[1] Hampton also attended OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change)'s first West Coast Conference in 1987, in which she shared personal stories.

[1] Following her death, Hampton was featured on the front pages of the Lesbian Herstory Archives Newsletter #11, January 1990, in which her legacy was honored.