Helen C. Maybell Anglin was Chicago's self-proclaimed "Soul Queen," whose South Side restaurants fed entertainers, politicians and regular folks drawn for decades by fried chicken and short ribs, fresh greens and sweet potato pie -- and a little conversation with their regal hostess.Check out this brief list of luminaries!
Mrs. Maybell Anglin, 80, died of multiple organ failure on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at her daughter D-Ella Pyrzynski's home in Lansing, said another daughter, Gina Gibson-Devine. She had lived in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood since 1963.
An Alabama native, Mrs. Maybell Anglin got into the restaurant business in the late 1940s with her first husband, Hubert Maybell. The H&H Cafe at 125 E. 51st St. opened with three stools, expanded to seven and eventually boasted 10 stools and a booth, Gibson-Devine said.
Two years after her divorce in 1969, she opened the Soul Queen restaurant at 22nd Street and Michigan Avenue. Four years later she opened a second Soul Queen at 9031 S. Stony Island Ave. in the Calumet Heights neighborhood, which remained in operation until earlier this year.
She introduced herself as the "main dishwasher" and indeed wasn't above handling any chore that needed doing. Knowing consistency was key to a successful restaurant, she wrote down detailed recipes and procedures for her staff.
"When you walk in this restaurant, the food should taste the same on the day shift as it does on the night shift," she would say, according to her daughter.
From her earliest days in business, Mrs. Maybell Anglin supported the civil rights movement and Chicago's African-American community, investing early in black-owned banks and businesses, including Johnson Publications' Ebony and Jet magazines, her daughter said. Civil rights marchers could get a meal at her place, and she donated food to local soup kitchens.I was at Soul Queen earlier this summer. Perhaps they were open in May came back the next month and found that the restaurant was closed. Looks like it may never re-open. :(
Neighborhood folks dined with the high and mighty at the Soul Queen. Visitors to her restaurants over the years included boxers Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, entertainers Count Basie and Mahalia Jackson, and many politicians. All were welcomed by the Soul Queen.
May she rest in peace!
Well I offer my condolences to the family.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the building can stay a restaurant. We are definitely in need of a white table cloth restaurant that serves more than soul food.