Welcome to Soul Queen Tribute

Tribute to "The Soul Queen - Helen Maybell Anglin

 

Helen Maybell Anglin was the owner of the famous Soul Queen Restaurant located at 9031 S. Stony Island Avenue in Chicago. Before she opened the first Soul Queen Cafe in 1971, she had been in business with her husband, Hubert B. Maybell as the founders of the then-famous H&H Café, which was located on 51st Street in the heart of the Bronzeville district. All total, she was a successful restaurateur and pillar of the African-American community for over 62 years.

She migrated from Edgewater, Alabama as a young girl. She was the 6th of 9 children. She was tall and able to push her age up in order to get a job and send money back home to her family. Her first job in Chicago was on the Chrysler assembly line. Later, she met and married Hubert Benjamin Maybell, Sr., also from Alabama. They had three children, one of which, her only son, Hubert Benjamin Maybell, Jr. preceded her in death in 1988. The restaurant started small and grew continuously. With this growth, came community involvement. She and her husband were active in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and all community affairs.

She supported the NAACP and was an early contributor to John H. Johnson when he went out among the black businesses to gather financial support for the creation of Ebony and Jet magazines. She was on the board of directors for the Howalton Day School, a small private school where she sent her children as adolescents. She was the driving force behind the fund raising, through bake sales, public relations and igniting public interest. She went on to meet Martin Luther King, Jr., the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Mahalia Jackson and later in life, a few White House Presidents. She marched with Martin Luther King in the 60s and was visibly active in her church and the community, and was on the front line with Jesse Jackson becoming one of the founders of Operation Push.

In 1971 she opened a new restaurant and crowned herself The Soul Queen. The business flourished and by 1975, she had a second restaurant, Soul Queen on Stony and a new husband, Attorney Frank A. Anglin, Jr., thus becoming, Helen Maybell-Anglin. He preceded her in death in 1992.

Helen could always be counted to be on the front line for social change for the better, and for the betterment of her people. For years, she brought numerous jobs to the African-American community. She wrote three books: My Mythical Rubberband, Mama Was Together, a cook-book and The Famous Helens. After 50 years in business, a street was named after her. A segment of 91st Street was renamed, Helen Maybell-Anglin Way.