"James Hampton" {April 8,1909-November 4,1964}

Was an African American  Janitor who secretly built a large assemblage of  religious art from scavenged  materials,and is considered and outsider artist.

He was born in Elloree,South Carolina.His daddy was a gospel  singer and a traveling Baptist  preacher.In 1928,James left for Washington DC,to join elder brother Lee,where they shared an apartment.James worked as a short-order cook until 1942 when he was drafted into the United States Army Air Forces.He served as a carpenter with the noncombatant 385th Aviation Squadron around  the Pacific theatre.He was honorably  discharge in 1945  and returned to Washington DC.

In 1946,James became a night janitor with the General Services Administration.Lee died in 1948.

In 1950,he returned a garage in northwest Washington.A month after James death; Meyer Wertlieb,owner of the garage,came to find out why the rent had not been paid.He knew that James had been building something in the garage.When he opened the door he found a room filled with many symmetrical,glittering objects surrounding a central throne. For 14,years,James had been building a throne out of  various old materials like aluminum and gold foil,old furniture,various pieces of  cardboard,old light bulds,shards of mirror and old desk blotters.He had pinned it together with tacks,glue,pins and tape.

It is unknown whether James considered himself  to be an artist.

The text The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millenium General  Assembly  was written on the objects in James handwriting. He had emblazoned the words Fear Not above the central throne.The complete work consists of a total of 180 objects,many of them inscribed with words from the Boook of  Revelation.The objects on the right  side of the central throne appear to refer to the  New Testament;those on the left side,to the Old Testament.

James had also kept a 108-page loose leaf  notebook titled St.James:The Book of  the 7  Dispensation.Most of the text had been written in an unknown script  that remains undeciphered.The text is on line online. and has been the subject  of research.

Some of  his text,had been accompanied by botes in English.In James writing,for example he used the title "Director,Special Projects,for the State Eternity and ended each page with the word  "Revelation."He also written texts,some of which refer to religious visions,on various pieces of people and cardboard on a few pages in each of several other notebooks.

James was  somewhat  reclusive.He had few close friends and spent much of his personal  personal time working on his shrine.He was quite humble  but often referred to himself as "St.James." James attended various churches in Washington and expressed an interest in finding a "holy woman"to assist  with his  life's work.He never married.James kept his project secret from most
friends and family.His relatives first heard about it when his sister came to claim his body.In 1970,James work was donated anonymously to the Smithsonian American Art Museum,where it is often on display.