What do you mean Madam C.J. Walker wasn't the First Hair Guru Millionaire?

Picture of Annie Turnbo Malone found on Google

          If  you have been keeping up with my articles so far this year then you may recall me mentioning the name Annie Malone in the first article I released in  January. If you haven't, well she was the first black female millionaire to sell her hair products. While writing the article, " Starting the New Decade with Healthier Hair," I came across some information about the hair industry that I knew about while completing my research for the article and I became interested about learning more about an important figured named Annie Turnbo Malone who was actually Madam C. J. Walker's role model and the model of her successful business. While we have now entered the month of February and the celebration of Black History Month, I felt as though this would be the perfect time to share what I learned about her because from many of you, you too have said that you never heard of Malone and her business. In this article, you will learn more about Malone than you learned in the January article and how her success impacted Madam C. J. Walker's career.

          Annie Malone was born on August 9, 1869 in Metropolis, Illinois as Annie Turnbo to parents Isabella Cook Turnbo and Robert Turnbo who were former slaves. She was the tenth sibling out of eleven children. While she was still young, both parents died and she was raised by an older sister in Peoria, Illinois. Turnbo never finished school because she would constantly become sick which resulted in her missing a lot of classes at school.

          As Annie was living with her older sister in Peoria in the 1890s, she was very interested in the hair industry. Around this time period, Black women were interested in wearing straighten hairstyles and would go to extreme measures to achieve the look. They would use soap, goose fat, different types of oils, butter, bacon,, grease, or use sheep carding combs. Women would also use a mixture of lye and potatoes that would often cause damage to the scalp and would easily break off hair. Annie Turnbo envisioned a better and healthier way to achieve the straighten look. With the collaboration with her knowledge on chemistry and her aunt who was an herbal doctor, they came up with her first product, "The Great Wonderful Hair Grower," in the beginning of the 1900s.

Image found on Google

          In 1902, Turnbo moved to St. Louis, Missouri copyrighted the brand and hired people to sale her hair products called "Poro" door-to-door. While on her travels to selling her products, she knocked on a door and was greeted by a woman name, Sarah Breedlove, who  would later be known as Madam C. J. Walker. When Malone saw Walker for the first time, the first thing she noticed was her hair. "It was short and matted, and her scalp was dry and flaky and had bald spots." Malone convinced Walker to let her help her grow her hair and get it in a healthier state with the Poro hair products. Once Madam C. J. Walker noticed a difference with her hair, she was also convinced to become a Poro agent for Malone. Sarah Breedlove would soon be the best sale person in the area selling Malone's hair products. She would work for Malone for about a year before she would create new competition for Malone by selling her own form of hair products. During this time, Annie Malone was married twice and divorced once. She was first married to Nelson Pope and they divorced in 1907. In 1914, she married Aaron Eugene Malone, who was a former teacher and a religious book salesman.

Image of Poro College found on Google

          By 1917, Annie Malone founded and opened Poro College in St. Louis. The institution was known as the first educational institution in the United States that focused on studying and teaching cosmetology on African American hair. The curriculum included instructions to train students on how to do hair properly and how to present themselves at work. It was reported that 75,000 people graduated from the school then relocated within the United States and the Caribbean. The Poro college building was later purchased by St. James African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and then taken down to create the James House.

          While Annie Malone was gaining a lot of success with her business, she was also a generous donator to the Black Community charities. Malone donated money to the St. Louis Colored Orphan's Home later being named the Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center in 1946 while serving as the board president from 1919 to 1943. She even donated money to Black institutions as well such as Howard University and the Tuskegee Institute. She was very giving to her family and friends as well when it came to her wealth.

          With all the donations contributions and hiring her husband and dishonest / inexperienced people she hired as managers to take care of the daily affairs of the business; it lead to the decline of the Poro industry. Aaron Malone would later divorce Malone in 1927 and demand to have half the ownership of the business. With the support she received from other powerful women, Annie Malone was able to keep complete ownership of the Poro business.

          In 1930, Annie Malone moved her business to Chicago, Illinois where she owned an entire neighborhood. The neighborhood was known as the "Poro Block." The business would continue to run until 1951 when the government and other creditors took ownership of the business because of the debt she was in when it came to paying the taxes. On May 10, 1957; Annie Malone Turnbo Malone suffered from a stroke and died at Chicago's Provident Hospital. Malone never had any children of her own and the value of her estate was estimated at $100,000.



The following information is credited from the articles on the following sites:  https://freemaninstitute.com/poro.htm and http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2018/feb/08/annie-turnbo-malone-millions/?page=2

I hope you enjoyed this article and hope you are ready to learn about another person we don't hear about during Black History Month. If you too know an unknown person that should be included in Black History Month then upload their picture with their story and add the hashtag #AphroKingdom so I can check it out.

See you in a couple of week!