Thelma "Mother" Hill (1924–1977) was an African-American dancer and dance educator from Brooklyn, New York.
A groundbreaking artist considering the limited opportunities for black dancers at the time, Hill would co-found the New York Negro Ballet Company and teach dance at the university level before her accidental death in 1977.
Hill performed as a dancer in the first television broadcast of Revelations on the March 4, 1962 program Lamp Unto My Feet.
[9][10] In the 1960s, Hill began teaching dance after an injury cut her performance career short.
[11][12] Hill died on November 21, 1977 at age 53 from smoke inhalation from a fire in her Brooklyn apartment.