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African Americans in Business and Entrepreneurship: A Resource Guide

Beauty

Several African American entrepreneurs made their fortunes in the beauty industry. While Sarah Breedlove, more commonly known by the name, Madame C.J. Walker; and Anne T. Malone are perhaps two of the better-known African American entrepreneurs, Marjorie Joyner, Rose Meta Morgan, Anthony Overton, and John H. Johnson also made lasting contributions to the beauty and hair industry during the 20th century. From the invention of a permanent wave hair machine to the production of cosmetics and beauty products created for African American women to the biggest Negro beauty parlor in the world, African American inventors and entrepreneurs paved the way for beauty brands and companies that exist today.

To learn more about these particular African American entrepreneurs, view the Entrepreneurs and Brands section of this Research Guide. To learn more about their businesses and companies, consider viewing the Doing Company Research guide.

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

Following are Library of Congress guides and blogs highlighting resources on African American beauty.

Following are links to external websites with digitized resources on the African American beauty industry.