Mary Wilson, the incredible Motown legend and co-founder of The Supremes has passed away at the age of 76. I've always love the music of The Supremes and admired these ladies as the trailblazers that they were, especially for Black women. Their elegance and pure talent was ground-breaking. Mary Wilson was a fabulous singer and an icon. What a life.
Back in 2008, my husband and I had a few special days in London which featured many highlights. One of the highlights was experiencing a fantastic limited-run exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum which featured memorabilia from The Supremes. The exhibit had also been shown at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
The exhibit of The Supremes memorabilia was amazing! The evening gowns were incredible! It was an absolute honor to see these history-making pieces up close. Sadly, I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the exhibit, but the sights and sounds are imprinted upon my memory forever. I wrote a long post about that day. Here's an excerpt:
We went to the Victoria & Albert (V&A) mostly to see an exhibition of memorabilia of The Supremes. It was fabulous. The gowns were amazing and timeless. A lot of those dresses that were from the 60s still could look fabulous if worn now. There is something about dresses from the 40s, 50s, and 60s that transcends the particular decade and will always look good. There were programs, photos, and all kinds of artefacts of this fabulous group of ladies. Mary Wilson had held onto a lot of this stuff, so she put it all together and now we have this great exhibit to see. I heard her in an interview here where she said that she didn’t throw anything away from that time. Thank God for her. (smile) The exhibit also had film of her and others talking about Motown and The Supremes. There was also a bit of archival footage of Martin Luther King Jr and things about the Civil Rights Movement as a background to give a feel of the times when Motown and The Supremes were doing their thing. It showed just how massive their achievement was and how it shaped history. They altered the perceptions of many in the rest of the world. The Supremes were elegant and all of the girl groups after them have a great example to follow. The Supremes were at their height before I was born, but I grew up hearing their music like everyone else and I think they were wonderful. The little girl in me just wanted to break into the exhibition cases and try on all of the clothes. (smile) As a former wannabee fashion designer, I was loving the fashions and the music is classic.
- excerpt from blog post "Nelson Mandela and the Rest of Our Story" - 2008
The original post was rather lengthy, but if you'd like to read it, you can find it here.
Mary Wilson was instrumental in making the exhibition a reality and I'm so grateful that she shared her great memories with the world. And now as we say goodbye to her, I'm immensely grateful that she shared her great talent with the world!
RIP Ms Mary Wilson
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