Mattie Fielding

Mattie Fielding's employee photo when she began work at the Government Free Bathhouse, 1904

National Archives and Records Administration

Serving Her Park and Her Community

Born enslaved in Alabama around 1860, Mattie Fielding made her way to Hot Springs around 1880. She married and had nine children. She raised all of them with jobs in and around the national park.

Mattie Fielding participated in one of the first organized industries in Hot Springs for African American women: laundry services. Black women used the ample supply of hot water and found steady work for the hundreds of visitors arriving every day from out of town. Fielding worked as a laundress at the Army and Navy General Hospital. She was one of the first African American federal employees in Hot Springs.

Ms. Fielding began work on Hot Springs Reservation in 1904. The park’s superintendent, Martin Eisele, said Fielding “brings me the highest recommendations as to her industrious habits and good character.” Mattie Fielding backed up these words with actions. She worked in the Government Free Bathhouse for 22 years! During that time she was in charge of the bath hall designated for African American women. She worked every day from 7am until 5pm. Mattie Fielding also petitioned the government and secured employment for her daughter, Susie, to work at the Government Free Bathhouse as well.

 

Mattie Fielding, taken at the time of her retirement, 1926

National Archives and Records Administration

Outside of work, Mattie Fielding did what she could to improve her community for herself and all of her children. When she could, like in 1914, Fielding donated to local Black hospitals in Hot Springs, offering food and clothing to those less fortunate. That same year, Ms. Fielding hosted a social for students from the local high school at her own home. And during World War I, Fielding and others organized a committee to collect war stamps from bathhouse employees.

Mattie Fielding retired from the Government Free Bathhouse in 1926. While age had caught up with the physical demands of the job, her performance remained high. Hugh de Valin, M.D., superintendent of Hot Springs National Park in 1926, wrote in Fielding’s file that “Her service has been honest and faithful... She has a fine record, not even a reprimand.”

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