Before Debi Thomas, before Tai Babilonia, before Atoy Wilson, before Surya Bomaly, before Starr Andrews, there was Mabel Fairbanks. Mabel paved the way for non-Caucasian and African-American figure skaters.
Mabel Fairbanks was an American figure skater and coach. As an African American and Native American woman she paved the way for other minorities to compete in the sport of figure skating such as Naomi Lang. Mabel Fairbanks was born on November 14, 1915 in Florida's Everglades. Her father was African American while her mother was a Native American of English descent. She was inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame, as the first person of African American and Native American descent, and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.
Though loaded with talent, she never competed competitively due to the segregation laws in place. She instead performed as an act on the theatrical circuit.
Fairbanks coached singles and pairs, including Tiffany Chin, Billy Chapel, Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi / Rudy Galindo, Tai Babilonia / Randy Gardner, Leslie Robinson, Michelle McCladdie, Richard Ewell, Debi Thomas, Atoy Wilson, and Jean Yuna. She also taught skating to the children of many celebrities. In 1997, she became the first African American inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in October 2001.
Fairbanks never married. She was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis in 1997 and with acute leukemia in mid-2001. She died on September 29, 2001 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California She is interred in the ground at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California. Her grave is right at the beginning of the bridge to the Clark Mausoleum.
