Crowned with glory

Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats,” and invites attendees to wear their finest church hats to the presentation.

If you plan to attend, however, you need to know a few things first. Peggy Knox, a subject in “Crowns,” lays out the three church hat rules:

“Don’t let people touch the hat. Don’t let people knock the hat. Don’t let people hug too close.”

The tradition of black women wearing elaborate hats to church dates back to the time of slavery in the U.S., when black women who worked as maids or servants were able to ditch their uniforms for one morning a week. These hats, festooned with colorful flowers or bows, were a sign of individuality and freedom.

To many black women, their church hats are sacred in more ways than one. Some trace the custom of wearing church hats to the biblical passage 1 Corinthians 11:5, which states: “Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head.”

These hats often carry an important family connection, as well. “Over time (the hats) have become heirlooms passed on to succeeding generations,” says Cunningham.

It was career boredom that led Cunningham, who lives outside of Washington, D.C., to take on the project of documenting the cultural phenomenon of church hats.

“I was working as a successful commercial photographer in Winston-Salem, N.C., shooting for clients like R.J. Reynolds, Sara Lee and Wachovia Bank and I was starting to get bored,” Cunningham says. “I wanted to get back to what made me fall in love with photography when I was a kid, and that was black and white photography.”

“I was talking with a friend and she mentioned the big fancy hats women wore to church,” says Cunningham. “I remembered my mother, an evangelist, who had these fancy hats.” He started looking around and discovered that no one had done a book like what he had in mind.

The photographer recruited women he knew, asked friends and area pastors for referrals and advertised on the radio. He shot photos of women of all ages on location in their churches, in their homes and even in his own studio.

“I moved a church pew into my studio,” Cunningham says.

At the time Cunningham was shooting the photos, the late Maya Angelou was a client. They talked about pairing the photographs with her poetry. But then Craig Marberry, a former TV newsman, heard of the project and offered to partner on it. Marberry was fascinated by the subject and offered to interview the women and tell the stories behind the photos.

Angelou would ultimately write a foreword for the book, but time constraints and her failing health never allowed Cunningham to shoot a photo session with her, something he deeply regrets.

The book, published in 2000, and is the inspiration for the stage play “Crowns,” by Regina Taylor. The play uses church hats to explore inter-generational relationships. The success of the play has contributed to the book’s enduring popularity.

“It’s been a wild ride, and the stage play keeps the book selling,” Cunningham says.

Ultimately the success of “Crowns” would lead to two additional photography books featuring African-American women: “Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over 50” and “Queens: Portraits of Black Women and their Fabulous Hair.”

Cunningham also photographed Harlem residents for “Spirit of Harlem: A Portrait of America´s Most Exciting Neighborhood,” another collaboration with Marberry. “Spirit of Harlem” was published with a foreword by Cunningham’s idol, Gordon Parks, one of the best known black photographers and director of the movie “Shaft.”

The oral histories by Marberry are mostly light-hearted. Some women in the book have only a few hats, others own hundreds. One woman showcased in the book had a special room built just for her hats.

Another woman tells him “There’s going to be a section in heaven for us and our hats.”

Michael Cunningham

Presentation and book signing with the photographer of “Crowns.” 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 1 Capital Area District Library Downtown Branch, 401 South Capitol Avenue, Lansing. FREE. (517) 367-6363 cadl.org