Customer Reviews

Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats

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The black and white photos are as expressive as the wonderful stories about how these charming ladies began their love affairs with hats. Each story is unique and also very much like the others. There is lots of unexpected humor. I have been inspired to continue wearing and buying more hats. Love the book. Thank you Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Marberry and all the ladies who shared their thoughts and their hats.

"Crowns: Portraits of Women in Church Hats" brought to memory many Sundays in church when I was a child. Women walked with regal grace when wearing their church hats. I saw some of these women during the week and many were plain and quite ordinary in appearance. But at 11:00 on Sunday morning, they were elegant and stately as they strutted, in their church hats, towards their seats in the sanctuary. The photgraphs are as beautiful as the women they portray. This is a "must have" book for any woman who loves gorgeous hats and the women who wear them.

This is THE book that friends will pick up FIRST from the top of your coffee table at home or at work.

Beautiful message, pictures and content.

I'm so surprised to see this book published since I was just in a small church in Harlem and was admiring the gorgeous hats I saw on the women there. I'd never been to a church of mostly black women, and decided then that their hat appeared to provide the external sign of their inner strength and beauty that lies within, as it they were the crowns of glory each felt important to display. I hadn't realized that it was a tradition until I saw your book listed on Amazon. I think it would also be nice in color since much of the color adds to their plumage similar to the beading I see in the braids of young girls and women which I decided served a similar purpose. How exellent it is that the females are so willing to reveal themselves with such grace and passion for living. I rather wonder if white women haven't missed something along the way, in making themselves so available to the world in choosing to allow such scrutiny in such a dignified manner without the pretense of having to do it with clothing. It may well be a lost art that black women have kept alive.

I really enjoyed reading, 'Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats,' not only because it was delightful to see the beautiful photographs of elegant black women in their Sunday hats but also because the stories that each woman told gave me a real insight into the black culture of our country. I grew up in an all white suburb of Chicago in the early 1950's. The only black person I was acquainted with in those days was our housekeeper, Julia. I never asked her if she wore a hat to church on Sunday but she was a very proud and regal sort of woman, so I am sure that she did.

In those days, however, every lady wore a hat to church on Sunday along with her white gloves. I still have a photograph that appeared in our local paper that was taken of my family one Easter Sunday as we were about to enter the First Presbyterian Church of River Forest. My mother was wearing her black and white checked suit, her fox boa, her white gloves and her little black hat with the veil. My three sisters and I were wearing our new Easter dresses and, of course, our new Easter bonnets! Our dad was wearing a hat also because in those days, men always wore hats too.

Nowadays, when I go to church, I am appalled at some of the outfits I see - even blue jeans on some people! In an attempt to bring back the customs of my youth, I started an image and etiquette business a few years ago. I produced a video, 'American Dining and Entertaining Etiquette,' to teach manners for the table. I am happy to say that this video is the top selling etiquette video on Amazon.com.

I lecture nationally and internationally on image and etiquette and when I lecture, I ALWAYS wear a hat! I do this for two reasons. One reason is so that everyone will notice me and know who the speaker is. The other reason is because my wearing a hat is symbolic of a time when a lady was not considered properly attired unless she wore a hat and during this same time, people knew proper etiquette!

I'm truly delighted to learn that black women are keeping up the traditions of their heritage by wearing their beautiful hats on Sunday!

My love of tradition and hat wearing has also resulted in my meeting and befriending my first black girlfriend. Several years ago, I attended a very large charity luncheon in downtown Chicago. In spite of the large number of women at this event, one woman stood out in my mind because of her magnificent hat. I made a point of making my way through the crowd and introducing myself. My friend, Betty Brown, society columnist, fashion plate and hat queen, and I have been friends now for some 20 years drawn together because of our mutual love for hats. Imagine, In fact it was she, Betty, who told me about this delightful book and I am so glad that she did. I am going to recommend it to all my friends and fellow hat lovers.

This is truly a great book; greater I think than the author and photographer could even have known they were producing for this book is not so much about 'hats' but about a proud people that we white people know so very little about. Thank you for this book.

From a visual anthropology perspective this book is great. I live in Memphis, Tn where the COGIC convention is every year and we see SOME HATS! We call it the Hat Parade. These women are strong and reflective of the class that women in hats posess...
The photography is wonderful, the commentary fun and enlightening.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND

From a visual anthropology perspective this book is great. I live in Memphis, Tn where the COGIC convention is every year and we see SOME HATS! We call it the Hat Parade. These women are strong and reflective of the class that women in hats posess...
The photography is wonderful, the commentary fun and enlightening.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND

This incredible combination of elegant photographs and inciteful interviewing makes this book a very treasured addition to my library. I have well over 3,000 books... of them there are about 15 that I will never part with and "Crowns" has just become one of that select group. The beautiful portraits of these distinguished ladies in their wonderful hats has been so poetically captured. I fully agree with the photographer that color would have been a distraction for the purposes of this book. It is not a book about hats, it is a book about a way of life and the women who make it live. The text will alternately make you cry and laugh, and sometimes even laugh until you cry... I would love to have tea and a long conversation with many of these wonderful women. Failing the ability to do that, this book will suffice quite nicely.

I am a white middle-aged male. I saw a piece about this book, photographer, and author on the TV show, "Sunday Morning" and was fascinated with the concept.
As a youth growing up in Columbus, Ohio, in the 60's, I was a member of my church's group "Travelling Freshmen," and we visited many different churches every other Sunday. Even back then, I was fascinated by the experience of the black church.
If you are able to read this book without a few tears forming, there is something wrong with you. These Ladies in this book are truly engaging and this is a wonderful read.
I have the privelege of working in a call center in Jacksonville, Florida with many African-American Ladies who also show the same depth of character as the ladies in this wonderful book. I highly recommend this wonderful book as an easy read, but one that will have a truly profound affect on you!

I am called the "Hat Lady". I relate to the queens in the book. In fact, some of the ladies made comments that I found to be very profound, i.e, wearing a hat in a coffin. I wear hats and love them. Like the ladies, when I put on a hat I stand taller, walk with a strut, and feel I am invincible. It's something about a hat that seems to add to my stature. "Crowns" gives a lot of insight into why we look so good in hats. It's true it's all about attitude and self-esteem. I try to wear them at all times. "Crowns" is relative. I felt so good about myself after reading it. The queens really put hats in their proper perspective in relation to African-American women. I always get a compliment like, "Girl, you're wearing that hat" from one of my sisters and from strangers I hear, "That's a bad hat you got on." (Mostly males) Several times I saw myself in those. I smiled and shook my head at the comments. It is a story that needed to be told. I commend the author & photographer, for I found no fault with "Crowns". A good read.