St. James the JanitorJames Hampton was born in Elloree, South Carolina in 1909. His father was a gospel singer and a traveling Baptist preacher. In 1928, Hampton left for Washington DC to join his elder brother Lee. They shared an apartment. James Hampton worked as a short-order cook until 1942 when he was drafted into United States Army Air Forces. He served as a carpenter with the noncombatant 385th Aviation Squadron around the Pacific theatre, was honorably discharged in 1945 and returned to Washington DC.
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In 1946, Hampton became a night janitor with the General Services Administration. In 1950 he rented a garage in northwest Washington. His brother Lee died in 1948. Hampton died of stomach cancer on November 4, 19642 at the Veteran's Hospital in Washington DC. He never married.
A month later Meyer Wertlieb, owner of the garage, came to find out why the rent had not been paid. He knew that Hampton 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, Hampton had been secretly creating a multitude of religious art.
A month later Meyer Wertlieb, owner of the garage, came to find out why the rent had not been paid. He knew that Hampton 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, Hampton had been secretly creating a multitude of religious art.
The Miracle of St. James Hampton
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From some time near the end of World War II until his death in 1964, James Hampton, a janitor for the General Services Administration in Washington, D.C., spent virtually every spare minute constructing a strange and beautiful masterpiece entitled, "The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly." The Throne, composed of 177 separate objects, each meticulously wrapped in silver and gold foil, is now on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American Art in Washington.
Hampton built his masterpiece from a very select collection of junk, including old furniture, burned-out light bulbs, jelly jars, carpet cylinders, desk blotters, cardboard, and foil. All the separate pieces are precariously held together with glue, tape, tacks, and pins. The Throne's many pieces are arranged symmetrically on either side of a main throne chair. Matched pairs of smaller tables and ornaments decorate each side, the objects on the left referring to the New Testament, and, to the right, the Old Testament. The throne chair is crowned with the words "Fear Not," and tacked to a board is the inscription, "Where There Is No Vision the People Perish." Many of the pieces are tagged, and on the tags Hampton often refers to himself as "Saint James." During the last fourteen years of his life, Hampton rented a small, unheated garage in a rundown section of D.C. to construct and house the Throne. He told very few people, if any at all, about his work, and he never opened the garage door or invited anyone inside. In fact, it was not until just after Hampton's death that the owner of the building learned of Hampton's Throne. It was through the landlord and an anonymous donor that the National Museum of American Art came to possess it. Before its permanent installation in the Smithsonian, the Throne was displayed in art museums in Minneapolis, New York, Boston, Virginia, and Alabama. It is thought that Hampton hoped to one day become a preacher and open a small, streetside ministry with the Throne as the altar and central teaching device. He even conducted solitary services in the garage on Sundays. But his central motivation for building the Throne was as a tribute to his God. He believed, quite literally, in the Second Coming, and his work on the Throne was in preparation for that event. He also claimed to have communed regularly with the Almighty during the Throne's construction. The Throne "may well be the finest work of visionary religious art produced by an American." -- Robert Hughes Hampton's masterpiece was inspired by visions that persisted throughout his life. He recorded many of the visions on tablets that adorn the Throne. The first recorded vision took place when he was only 22-years-old: "This is true that the great Moses the giver of the tenth commandment appeared in Washington, D.C. April 11, 1931." Another reads, "This is true that Adam the first man God created appeared in Person on January 20, 1949. This was on the day of President Truman's inauguration." My favorite states that "...on October 2, 1946, the great Virgin Mary and the Star of Bethlehem appeared over the nation's capitol."
Hampton also filled several notebooks with writings he kept in conjunction with his work on the Throne. His wrote in a secret script of his own devising which, despite the efforts of cryptographers, has yet to be deciphered. The real power of The Throne is understood only by actually going to see it. It is simultaneously enchanting, frightening, and awe-inspiring. The entire installation glows, like a halo, the spirit of Saint James pervading the room. It's also a little scary to look at the Throne and consider the strange circumstances of Hampton's life, marked as it was by loneliness, poverty, and obscurity. But these circumstances clearly were not important to Hampton. No evidence has surfaced to suggest that he ever despaired or even questioned the value of his work. He simply forged on until he died, apparently undeterred by the complete lack of recognition for his work. Certainly Hampton would never have dreamed of the admiration his work now receives, but unfortunately, that recognition did not come until a decade after his death. It's worth noting that recognition of the Throne ultimately came from the artistic community, not the religious community. Hampton's sense of dedication and faith can only be attributed to someone who has transcended the nagging concerns of a normal human existence. This man was a visionary, to whom creativity and unfailing dedication became the salvation not only for himself, but for all men. Who has the strength of such conviction and faith? A lunatic? Probably not. The Throne contains too much order and structure. A saint? Perhaps. Saint James? Saint James the Throne Builder. Saint James of the Visions. Saint James of the Nations General Assembly. "Where there is no Vision, the People Perish." |
Notebooks + Images |
Hampton had also kept a 112-page notebook, titled St James: The Book of the 7 Dispensation, written in his personal code, still undeciphered. He referred to himself as St. James and ended each page with the word "Revelation". The number 7 features prominently throughout the Book of Revelation and the theological creed of Dispensationalism is centred upon the notion that God’s dealings with mankind are divided into seven distinct ‘dispensations’, or periods of history, in which humans are tested as to their obedience to the will of God. The seventh and final dispensation is the 'Great White Throne (Millenium)'.7, the Millennial Age after the Second Coming. The 'great white throne' is a phrase which appears in Revelation 20:11. It seems clear that Hampton was constructing the throne in readiness for what he believed would be the imminent Second Coming of Christ and the beginning of the seventh dispensation. Exactly when Hampton expected this final chapter to open is, as yet, unknown.
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Related Links
- Washington Post Article from August 9, 1981
- https://www.guideposts.org/positive-living/life-purpose/james-hamptons-masterpiece-of-folk-art?nopaging=1
- http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=9897
- http://fortean.wikidot.com/james-hampton
- Cracking the Code of James Hampton's Private Language