Annie Turnbo Malone: Trailblazing Black Entrepreneur and Philanthropist

Black women had traditionally used bacon grease, butter, and heavy oils as hair straighteners. Realizing the damage done by these harsh methods to black hair, Turnbo came up with a way to straighten hair without damaging the hair follicles. As a part of her experimentation, she often passed on her treatments to family members seeking to heal their damaged scalps. She called her product “Wonderful Hair Grower.”

Turnbo expressed a desire to make this her life’s work, an aspiration that was met by much displeasure from her family who thought it a vocational pursuit not befitting a black woman. Regardless, in 1902 Turnbo left Southern Illinois to reside in St. Louis, Missouri, site of the 1904 World’s Fair. She viewed this as a golden opportunity to appeal to key business stakeholders in a city which possessed one of the largest black populations in America at the time.

At some point, likely in 1903, she met her most famous client and protégé, Sarah Breadlove, better known as Madam C.J. Walker. Malone gave Walker—who would later become a beauty care icon in her own right—an apprenticeship and orientation to the cosmetics industry. In 1905, Walker moved to Denver and began selling her own products, which some argued had a strong resemblance to those of Turnbo. But over time, she too became one of the wealthiest black women in America.

In 1906, Turnbo trademarked her cosmetics under “Poro,” named after a West African movement devoted to discipline and enhancements for the body. Her motto became “clean scalps mean clean bodies.”

As a black woman in a time when either identification raised hurdles for an aspiring entrepreneur, Turnbo regularly ran into both gender restrictions and racial barriers while building her business. In response, she trained her mentees to bypass stores, instead going door-​to-​door, doing product demonstrations, and soliciting direct sales, all resulting in steady business growth and a surge of national acclaim.

Turnbo wed St. Louis school principal Aaron E. Malone in 1914. By the conclusion of World War I, she had reached millionaire status and was considered one of the most successful black women of her time.

In 1918, defying restrictive housing covenants, Malone opened a cosmetology school in a three-​story St. Louis building known as Poro College. This school, staffed by 175 employees, became a major part of her efforts to teach women about the vital importance of scalp health.

At an estimated cost of $500,000, the Poro complex encompassed classrooms, factory facilities, barber shops, sewing rooms, a gymnasium, rooftop garden, and a 500-​seat auditorium. After matriculating from Poro, many of these enterprising women started their own beauty shops and businesses. This was a major milestone for the economic mobility of black women, who were generally barred from any type of work in St. Louis other than domestic labor.

Her meteoric rise and soaring fortunes were placed at risk when Malone’s husband filed for divorce in 1927, demanding one-​half of the business. This dispute eventually led to a $200,000 settlement. On the heels of the divorce—and after a tornado had destroyed a significant portion of St. Louis—Poro College served as a rescue center that provided shelter, clothing, and food for nearly 5,000 people.

After the highly publicized split with her husband, Malone moved to Chicago, Illinois. She immediately purchased three mansions in succession in the wealthiest part of the city while relaunching her hair care and cosmetic empire.

However, further financial troubles struck in the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash. Malone also faced court-​ordered repayment of back taxes and a protracted legal dispute with a former staffer.

But Poro survived and continued to promote the values of “personal beauty and tidiness, self-​respect, thrift, and industry.” Eventually, the school established 32 satellite schools throughout the U.S. and matriculated over 70,000 female agents throughout the world, including in Africa and South America.

Malone deployed her substantial fortune to philanthropic ends. She funded an array of black organizations, including the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home, the YMCA, Howard University Medical School, and several black land grant colleges.

Malone’s community involvement included organizations such as the Women’s Temperance Movement, the Council of Negro Women, and the Delta-​Sigma Theta Sorority. She also served as board president of the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home from 1919 to 1943, for which she contributed the land for the first permanent home for orphaned black children in St. Louis.

With respect to the arts, Malone commissioned the development and promotion of Poro movies, dispatching photographers and filmmakers throughout the U.S. The aim of this initiative was to film people, places, and moments that demonstrated the immense talents and gifts of black Americans. Unfortunately, as Bob Jackson covers in his book Fade in, Crossroads: A History of the Southern Cinema, these motion pictures—mostly training and promotional films—have not survived the years.

Unlike Madame CJ Walker—who was able to sustain a relative degree of wealth until her death in 1919—Malone had lost most of her fortune by the time she died from a stroke in 1957. While Malone may not have achieved the status and acclaim of Walker, her significance in championing economic independence and self-​reliance among black women should not be understated.