Since the 1940s, much of the progress made in breaking down the color barrier in U.S. figure skating can be directly attributed to Mabel Fairbanks. Prevented from skating competitively herself, Fairbanks nonetheless excelled as a professional performer and coach during her 60-year career.
In 1938, using a pair of skates that she purchased for a dollar in a pawnshop, Fairbanks began teaching herself on a small piece of ice in Harlem. She soon progressed to the local ice rink, although racial prejudice forced her to practice before the rink opened for the day. It was here that she caught the attention of nine-time national champion Maribel Vinson, who agreed to train her in secret and for free. By the mid-1940s, she had taken and passed all of the required competition tests, but, unable to join any of the clubs that sponsored figure skaters because of her color, she was ineligible for national or international competition. She turned instead to ice shows, but again found that, as an African-American, she was not welcome. Refusing to be defeated, she created her own shows and spent the 1940s and 1950s touring the United States and abroad as the principal skater.
During the 1950s and 1960s, she turned to coaching, and her students included many who subsequently went on to world and national competition success. Fairbanks saw the potential in partnering Tai Babalonia with Randy Gardner, and they later went on to win five national titles and the world pairs championship in 1979. She also was involved in shaping the early careers of Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamagucci; as well as Atoy Wilson, who became the first African-American to win a national title in 1966; and Richard Ewell and Michelle McCladdie, who together were the first African-Americans to win a national pairs title in 1972.
The racism that she encountered served only to make her more determined to carve out a skating career for herself. In this previously white-dominated sport, her legacy made it possible for today's minority skaters to be judged on their skill and performance alone. This was acknowledged in 1997 when Fairbanks became the first African-American to be inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame. She was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a muscular degenerative disease. Fairbanks passed away in October, just days before she would be inducted into The Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame at the 2001 Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner. She will be remembered forever as a woman of remarkable strength and determination whose contribution to the sport has eased the path for today's African-American figure skaters.