Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts tagged as “Scott Hamilton”

BHM100*: Celebrating U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Famer and Pioneer Mabel Fairbanks

BHM100*: Celebrating U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Famer and Pioneer Mabel Fairbanks

By goodblacknews on February 7, 2026

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Founder and Editor-in-Chief

Growing up in 1920s New York, Mabel Fairbanks dreamed of becoming a champion figure skater, but was denied entry to ice rinks due to segregation. She learned how to skate in part by eavesdropping on white skating instructors until her local rink manager finally admitted her.

(image via Atoy Wilson and the Mabel Fairbanks estate)

After her professional career on the ice ended, Fairbanks became a figure skating coach and worked with World Champion pairs team Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, Olympic gold medalists Scott Hamilton and Kristi Yamaguchi and Atoy Wilson, the first African American athlete to win a U.S. skating title.

Though she was never able to compete for her own prizes, Fairbanks was recognized as a pioneer of the sport when she became the first African American inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1997. She was posthumously inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in October 2001.

Fairbanks’ resting place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles is marked by a plaque etched with a pair of figure skates and the words “Skatingly Yours,” the phrase she’d add whenever she signed autographs.

U.S. Figure Skating currently champions The Mabel Fairbanks Skatingly Yours Fund, which financially assists and supports the training and development of promising Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) figure skaters with the goal of helping them realize and achieve their maximum athletic potential. There is also Mabel Fairbanks merchandise available at usskating.org where the proceeds go directly to the Skatingly Yours fund.

To learn more about Fairbanks, check out the NPR Code Switch podcast episodeabout her story and legacy and the 2019 children’s book Ice Breaker: How Mabel Fairbanks Changed Figure Skating (She Made History) written by Rose Viña and illustrated by Claire Almon.

Sources:

*This year marks the 100th anniversary since Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week in February 1926. Fifty years after that, President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month. In 1986, Congress passed a law designating February as Black History Month across the U.S.

GBN’s Daily Drop: Figure Skating Pioneer Mabel Fairbanks (LISTEN)

GBN’s Daily Drop: Figure Skating Pioneer Mabel Fairbanks (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on March 7, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Today’s GBN Daily Drop podcast is based on the Monday, March 7 entry in the “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 about Mabel Fairbanks, a figure skater who was denied the opportunity to compete for the U.S. because of her skin color but found other ways to dedicate herself to the sport and became a coach to future national and world champions of color:

You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):

SHOW TRANSCRIPT:

Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Monday, March 7th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.

Growing up in the 1920s, Mabel Fairbanks dreamed of becoming a champion figure skater, but she was denied entry to rinks because of her skin color. So, she learned in part by eavesdropping on white skating instructors. And when the U.S. Skating Team wouldn’t accept Black skaters, she showed off her skills by skating in entertaining ice shows instead.

Fairbanks later became a coach who worked with World Champion pairs team Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, Olympic gold medalists Scott Hamilton and Kristi Yamaguchi, and Atoy Wilson, the first African American athlete to win a U.S. skating title.

Though she was never able to compete for her own prizes, Fairbanks was recognized as a pioneer of the sport when she became the first African American inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1997.

Fairbanks passed away at 85 years old in 2001, and her resting place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles is marked by a plaque etched with a pair of figure skates and the words “Skatingly Yours,” the phrase she’d add whenever she signed autographs.

(via Atoy Wilson and the Mabel Fairbanks estate)

To learn more about Fairbanks, check out the recent NPR Code Switch podcast episode (embedded above) about her story and legacy, the 2019 children’s book Ice Breaker: How Mabel Fairbanks Changed Figure Skating (She Made History) written by Rose Viña and illustrated by Claire Almon, and the U.S. Figure Skating Mabel Fairbanks Skatingly Yours Fund set up to support the training and development of promising young figure skaters of color.

Links to these and other sources are provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.

This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing. Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.

If you like these Daily Drops, please consider following us on Apple, Google Podcasts, RSS.com,Amazon, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can give a positive rating or review, share links to your favorite episodes, or go old school and tell a friend.

For more Good Black News, check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.

Sources:

Unsung Black Women in History: U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Famer and Olympian Coach Mabel Fairbanks

By goodblacknews on October 3, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-10-04 at 5.17.25 AMThe late Mabel Fairbanks might not have been afforded the opportunity to chase Olympic gold as an ice skater, but she is still rightfully recognized as a pioneer of the sport. Fairbanks is the first Black woman inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame, and coached many of the sport’s brightest stars.
Fairbanks was born November 14, 1915 in the Florida Everglades. Little is known about her young life but birth records state she was of Black and Seminole Indian descent. Some reports state she was orphaned and found homeless on a park bench in New York by a wealthy white woman who gave her a job, but she rarely spoke of her past.
What is known is that she was hired as a babysitter by a white woman who lived near New York’s Central Park. While working, she began watching the white children skate at the ice rink and wished to join them. The rink denied her entry because of the color of her skin, but she was determined to learn. Eventually, she was given opportunities to skate in local rinks and given pointers by known coaches of the time. Fairbanks also eavesdropped on lessons by instructors to white skaters and began copying the moves.
mabel2Despite her talents, the U.S. Skating Team would not admit a Black woman to its ranks. Instead, Fairbanks skated with ice shows across New York and North America. In some instances, she was the only Black ice skater many had ever seen. With her dreams of competitive skating behind her, Fairbanks traveled to Los Angeles and started a career as a coach.
While on the West Coast, Fairbanks continued performing in ice shows and befriended Hollywood stars like Sammy Davis Jr. and the rest of the Rat Pack. She was also close to Zsa Zsa Gabor and Cary Grant.
As a full-time coach, Fairbanks molded the careers of U.S. Pairs champions Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, Scott Hamilton, 1992 Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, Debi Thomas and countless other U.S. and world champions. Atoy Wilson, the first African-American to win a U.S. skating title, was coached by Fairbanks as well.
Fairbanks was a fierce champion of equality in ice skating, and was instrumental in forcing Los Angeles’ Culver City skating club to admit its first Black member in 1965.
Fairbanks was entered in the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1997.
Fairbanks died in 2001 at the age of 85. In October 2001, she was posthumously entered into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.
article by D.L. Chandler via blackamericaweb.com