Mazie Gordon-Phillips

Mazie Gordon-Phillips
Born	Mazie Phillips March 3, 1896 Boston, MA
Died	June 8, 1964
Other names	Queen of The Bowery
Occupation	Movie Theater Owner
Known for	Homeless Advocacy

Mazie Gordon-Phillips (10 March 1896 – 8 June 1964)[1] also known as "Queen of The Bowery" and "Saint Mazie", was a movie theater owner and advocate for people experiencing homelessness on the Bowery, New York City.[2][3]

Biography

Gordon-Phillips grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and moved to New York City at the age of 10 to live with her sister Rosie.[4] Gordon-Phillips and her sisters Rosie and Jeanie owned the Venice Theater on Park Row from the 1920s to the 1940s;[5] Gordon-Phillips was the manager.[6] After the theater closed each night, she visited homeless men on the streets, distributing money and toiletries and assisting them to find a place to sleep in homeless shelters.[6]

In 1940, a New Yorker journalist Joseph Mitchell wrote a profile of Gordon-Phillips and coined the name "Saint Mazie".[7]

References

1. ,Attenberg, Jami (2015). Saint Mazie. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 9781455599899.
2. Lakso, Jessica (June 5, 2015). "A Caged Bird Sings". The Wall Street Journal.
3. "BOWERY MOURNS MAZIE PHILLIPS; Faithful Friend of Derelicts Dies—She Was 'Over 21'". The New York Times. June 11, 1964. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
4. Cheuse, Alan (June 11, 2015). "'Mazie' Pays Homage To A Real-Life Saint Of The Streets". NPR. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
5. Mitchell, Joseph (December 14, 1940). "Mazie, Queen of the Bowery". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
6. Attenberg, Jami (June 13, 2015). "My hero: Mazie Gordon-Phillips by Jami Attenberg". The Guardian. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
7. Preston, Caroline (June 25, 2015). "'Queen of the Bowery' embraced roles of sinner and saint". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2015-06-30. Retrieved December 2, 2019.