Photo courtesy Akbar Vanterpool
The son of Eleanor and Edward Vanterpool, Joseph Alexander Vanterpool was born February 28, 1920 in Harlem, New York. Joseph's parents, who were immigrants from the Dutch West Indies, struggled to raise seven children. Sadly, Joseph's siblings were separated and put into foster homes in different states. Joseph ended up as a ward of the Colored Orphan Asylum and Association for the Benefit of Colored Children in the Bronx. He and his brother were adopted by a kind family and he began studying at the Textile High School and found work as a sign painter.
Joseph was drafted into the United States Army at the age of twenty-one. During World War II, he served as a G.I. in Europe, fighting in The Battle Of The Bulge and playing with the military's marching band. It was in Europe, near the end of and after the War, that he had his first exposures to figure skating.
While on a Tour Of Duty in England, Joseph saw an ice pantomime in London. Then he attended an ice show featuring German skaters on a makeshift rink at a Red Cross pavilion on the outskirts of Nuremburg. His son Akbar recalled, "When he saw the shows he said, 'Wait a minute... I enjoyed myself so much that maybe I'll teach myself how to skate.' He made a promise to himself that when he got back to the States he'd purchase some skates. When he got back, he got a job with the United States Postal Service. During his lunch time, he would go to Rockefeller Center and Central Park. He would basically carve out an hour or an hour and a half out of his day during his lunch time to train. He got so good at it that he began to develop somewhat of a following at Rockefeller Center."
Photo courtesy Patrice Goody-Coleman
Joseph was one of a small but diverse group of trailblazing skaters of colour that took to the ice regularly at the Rockefeller Center rink in the post-War years. One of the skaters he toiled alongside was Sterling Bough, a member of the Norma Miller dance company who later headlined with a European tour of Larry Steele's Smart Affairs show with another member of the group, Jimmy McMillan. Sterling was the son of Juanita (Boisseau) Ramseur, a legendary Cotton Club performer who danced with Lena Horne in the early thirties. Journalist Jack McMahon recalled that Joseph "quickly lost whatever traces of stage fright he'd had by skating impromptu solos before the ever-present crowd of spectators that clusters around the rim of the rink."
In 1947, Joseph and Sterling were part of a short-lived tour staged by Stewart Seymour and John Brett, who was responsible for the ice shows at the Hotel St. Regis. "Harlem-On-Ice" was the realization of an all-African American skating troupe, an idea first conceived (but never realized) by Elizabeth and Fritz Chandler, who had invited Mabel Fairbanks to return to New York to headline in a similar show the year prior.
Joseph's 'big break' came in January of 1952, when he was invited to give an exhibition during the Finals of the Silver Skates Derby, a popular annual professional speed skating race held at Madison Square Garden. The December 20, 1951 issue of the "New York Daily News" noted, "Van, as he is known in skating circles, is grace and rhythm personified. Completely self-taught, he has mastered spectacular skating maneuvers that many soloists fail to develop after years of coaching. To top it off, Van has a distinctive style that is certain to delight the Garden crowd."
In the years that followed, Joseph was invited back to perform during the Silver Skates Derby again, and gave an exhibition at 1953 New York State Indoor Speed Skating Championships in the City Building at Flushing Meadows, alongside Carol Heiss and Andra McLaughlin. In 1956, he and Sterling Bough joined the cast of "Rhythm On Ice", an ice revue starring Mabel Fairbanks that was staged at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem. They, along with Jimmy McMillan who had headlined in "Harlem-On-Ice", were among the first African American men to be featured in ice shows.
Photo courtesy Lisa Fernandez
Like Mabel Fairbanks, Joseph simply wouldn't have the same opportunities white skaters had professionally because of the colour of his skin. No Ice Follies, no Ice Capades, no Sonja Henie's Hollywood Ice Revue... The big skating tours might not have taken an interest, but Ed Sullivan - one of the first talk show hosts to feature performers of colour - had him on his show.
Photo courtesy Akbar Vanterpool
Joseph stopped appearing in shows in the mid-fifties after marrying his wife Thelma. He told a "Newsday" reporter, "I'm proud of being the father of two little rascals, my sons. That was the most enjoyable thing for me. Just being able to be with them, doing wonderful things, like skating. Being with your kids keeps you young and I haven't gotten over it yet."
Photo courtesy Akbar Vanterpool
Joseph's son Akbar recalled, "He skated all the way up until the time he was about seventy-nine or eighty. My brother and I, he taught us how to skate. We kind of kept him enthused about skating as a family. We'd go to Central Park or Rockefeller Center or what used to be Sky Rink. My Dad just really loved to see us skate and skate with us. He was a total showman. He loved dance, loved skating, loved art - he was a very accomplished artist and taught art. He was a Renaissance man."
Joseph passed away on December 4, 2013 in Calverton, New York at the age of ninety-three. It's really quite incredible that his pioneering efforts in the figure skating world have gone largely unrecognized and hopefully that will change.
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