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Mazie Gordon-Phillips

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Mazie Gordon-Phillips
Born
Mazie Phillips

March 3, 1896
Boston, MA
DiedJune 8, 1964
Other namesQueen of The Bowery
OccupationMovie Theater Owner
Known forHomeless 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

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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

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  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. ^ a b 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.