Emma Chambers Maitland

Emma Chambers Maitland (1893 – March 1975), born Jane Chambers, was an American dancer, teacher, and boxer.

This article is about the American educator and performer Emma Chambers Maitland (1893-1975), not about the British educator and suffragist Emma Knox Maitland (1844-1923).
Emma Chambers Maitland
Photograph of Emma Chambers Maitland, published in a 1924 newspaper.
Born
Jane Chambers

1893
Virginia
DiedMarch 1975
Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPerformer, boxer, teacher
Years active1920s-1950s

Early life

Jane Chambers was born near Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Wyatt Chambers and Cora Chambers. Her parents were sharecroppers, and she had seven brothers.[1][2] She was educated at a convent school at Rock Castle, Virginia, and qualified as a teacher.[3] She changed her first name when she moved to Washington, D.C. as a young woman.[4]

Career

Chambers was a teacher as a young woman in Virginia. As a widow with a young daughter to support, Maitland moved to Paris.[5] She danced at the Moulin Rouge,[6] modeled for artists,[7] and did a boxing act with another American performer, Aurelia Wheedlin (or Wheeldin).[8] She became serious about boxing, trained with American boxer Jack Taylor, and toured with Wheedlin in Europe,[9][10] billed as the world's lightweight female boxing champion.[4][11] She also boxed in Canada,[12] Cuba and Mexico.[13]

Maitland moved back to the United States in 1926,[14] lived in New York City,[2] and continued performing as a "boxeuse".[15] She appeared (often with Wheedlin) in clubs,[16] on vaudeville[17] and on the New York stage in black revues,[18] including Messin' Around (1929),[19][20] Change Your Luck (1930),[21][22] and Fast and Furious (1931).[23] She worked as a bodyguard[24][25] and taught dance and gymnastics. In her later years she moved to Martha's Vineyard.[4]

Personal life and legacy

Emma Maitland married a Howard University medical student, Clarence Maitland. They had a daughter together in 1917.[26] Clarence Maitland died from tuberculosis within a year of their wedding. She died in early 1975, aged 82.[4][27]

Maitland donated her papers and souvenirs to the Schomburg Collection at the New York Public Library, in 1943.[7] In 2015, Maitland's former home in Oak Bluffs became a stop on the African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard.[4][28] In 2020, she was the subject of an exhibit at the Martha's Vineyard Museum.[29][30]

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References
  1. "Emma Maitlane Learned Boxing from 7 Brothers". Baltimore Afro American. January 14, 1928. p. 8. Retrieved June 4, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  2. Jemail, Jimmy (1942-07-24). "The Inquiring Photographer". Daily News. p. 21. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Weintraub, Elaine (July 18, 2013). "Boxing Her Way to Equality and Justice". The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  4. Waring, Pat (2015-06-24). "Welcome to the trail, Emma Maitland". The Martha's Vineyard Times. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  5. "They're All Off to Show New World Wares to Old World". Daily News. 1924-10-30. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Off to Gay Paree". Baltimore Afro American. October 10, 1924. p. 3. Retrieved June 3, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  7. "Female Pugilist Gives Records to Library". The New York Age. 1943-12-18. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Emma Maitland and Aurelia Wheeldin – 1924". Women's Boxing Historical Database. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  9. "Two Plucky American Race Theatrical Girls as they Looked in Milan, Italy". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1926-10-02. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Sister Team is in Milan". Baltimore Afro American. August 8, 1925. p. 4. Retrieved June 4, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  11. "Emma Chambers Maitland, African-American Female Boxer in the 1920s and 1930s!". Girlboxing. 2014-02-07. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  12. "In Montreal". Star-Phoenix. 1928-01-09. p. 12. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Early, Gerald (2019-01-24). The Cambridge Companion to Boxing. Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-108-65103-5.
  14. "Colored Girls Will Film Picture in African Interior". The Topeka Plaindealer. 1926-09-03. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "'Boxeuse' Not Ill". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1928-07-07. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Calvin's Weekly Diary of the New York Show World". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1926-12-11. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Black and White Show Popular at Orpheum". The News. 1928-05-08. p. 12. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Female Boxers to Feature in New Colored Show". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1926-12-04. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. Jr, Bernard L. Peterson (1993-10-25). A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, or Involving African Americans: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, or Involving African Americans. ABC-CLIO. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-313-06454-8.
  20. Mantle, Burns (1929-04-25). "'Messin' Around', Noisy Sideshow". Daily News. p. 39. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. Dietz, Dan (2018-03-29). The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 42, 150–152. ISBN 978-1-5381-0277-0.
  22. "'Change Your Luck' New Colored Show at Cohan Theatre". Times Union. 1930-06-09. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. Mantle, Burns (1931-09-17). "'Fast and Furious' Colored Romp". Daily News. p. 439. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. "Dare Ya' to Touch Me!". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 1956-05-25. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. "Lady Wrestler Guards Woman at Stock Meeting". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1956-05-25. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. "Births Reported". The Washington Post. 1917-04-18. p. 12. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. "Theatrical tidbits". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1975-03-29. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. Floyd, Alex (June 29, 2015). "Heritage Trail Honors for Emma Maitland". The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  29. "Emma Chambers Maitland – Martha's Vineyard Museum". Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  30. "Exhibit Opening: "Emma Chambers Maitland"". Martha's Vineyard Museum. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
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