This document summarizes the development of the Black beauty industry in the United States from the 1890s to the post-1960s era based on Tiffany Gill's book Beauty Shop Politics. It outlines key events, organizations, and figures that helped legitimize hairdressing and beauty culture as a profession for Black women during this period. Major topics covered include the rise of Madam C.J. Walker and Annie Malone as pioneers in the industry, the founding of groups like the National Negro Business League and National Beauty Culturists' League, increased regulations in the 1930s-1940s, the role of salons during the Civil Rights Movement, and changes in the industry's power and significance in more recent decades.

2. 1890 S -1900 S
 A focus on the growth of Black business characterized
the focus of prominent African - Americans like W.E.B.
DuBois and Booker T. Washington.
 Although Black men were at the center of this shif t,
their female counterpar ts also fur ther involved
themselves in entrepreneurship oppor tunities.
 The inception of the National Negro Business League
(NNBL) brought the creation of a Black business
community where women like Madam C.J. Walker
would later flourish and make a profession of
hairdressing for other Black women.
1. As outlined by Gill, how did Black women's involvement in business in
the early 20th century serve as racial uplift work?
2. How did Black women's work in the hair care industry differ from 20th
century work of Black men and beauty industry work of white women?
What role did Black women see organizations like the NBCL and NNBL
playing in the development of their fledgling industry? See pages 47-50.

3. 1910 S -1920 S
 The establishment of beauty schools in Black
neighborhoods guaranteed a sustainable future
for the work of women like Madam C.J. Walker
and Annie Malone.
 The National Beauty Culturists’ League (NBCL)
was created and stark distinctions between Black
beauty culturists and white hairstylists came into
focus.
3. The emergence of the Black female profession
characterized this period in U.S. Black women's
history. What were women like Madam C.J. Walker
and Annie Malone doing to legitimize beauty culture
as a viable profession for Black women?

4. 1930 S -1940 S
 Like other industries during the Depression, Black hair care businesses
lost profit but unlike other industries, gained social impor tance.
 Beauty culturist schools multiplied and the colleges and salons alike
became social center s holding various events and even housing stores in
some college’s facilities.
 With greater visibility in Black neighborhoods came greater visibility in
mainstream American society. As a result, regulations were put on the
industr y, licensing beauticians became necessar y, and industr y leader s
focused on expansion across the nation.
 Finally, during World War II, salons played an impor tant role in organizing
communities around the politics of the day.
4. How did the beauty industry
start to change as it became more
visible in mainstream American
culture? What were the effects of
the regulations explained in
chapter 3?

5. 1940 S -1950 S
 Following the close of World
War II and the advent of the
Cold War Era, some Black
beauticians were able to
travel internationally to learn
and teach both white and
Black beauticians.
5. How did international travel by Black
 Although well-received
beauticians change race relations between
abroad, these women still
Blacks and whites during the Post-World War
endured second-class
II Era? In what ways did race relations remain
treatment at home in the Jim
unchanged? Consider what these travels
Crow South.
abroad meant to all parties involved, including
but not limited to the Black press, the United
States government, African
beauticians, French and English press, etc.

6. 1950 S -1960 S
 Quoting Myles Horton (from his autobiography), Tiffany
Gill writes that “a black beautician, unlike a white
beautician, was at that time a person of some status in
the community.” (114)
6. Keeping this quote in mind, how did the status of “beautician”
impact the social and political capabilities of some black women
during the Civil Rights Movement? It may be helpful to think about
how independence factors into the social and political capabilities of
some black beauticians.
7. In what ways did the salon function as a physical space of
resistance for black women? How was the salon utilized for other
purposes, such as education, politics, health, etc.?

7. POST-1960 S
 Following the end of the Civil
Rights Movement, Gill describes
a multitude of ways in which the
power of Black beauticians
declined.
 In an effort to cope with these
changes, beauticians found new
ways to demonstrate their
significance to the Black
community.
8. How has the beauty industry changed for
stylists, manufacturers and clients during the
Post-Civil Rights Era?

8. PATRICIA HILL COLLINS BLACK FEMINIST
THOUGHT AND BEN GUEST’S “TEN DOLLARS
AN HOUR”
 Under the subheading “Urbanization and Domestic Work,”
Collins discusses how the Great Migration “stimulated
substantial shifts in Black women’s labor market
activities,” paying particular attention to the shift in Black
women as live-in servants to day workers. (62-65)
 In his film, “Ten Dollars an Hour,” Guest demonstrates the
difficult and complex working conditions of Ms. Leassa
Williams, a cook for the Sigma Nu fraternity in the
University of Mississippi.
9. Although these situations differ across time and
space, do you see any similarities between the lives of
Ms. Williams and the women described in Collins’ work?
It may help to consider the working conditions of the
domestic day workers who Collins writes about (63-64).
10. Collins
discusses the
role of family
structure in
dictating Black
women's work
(p. 52-53). What
"work" are Black
women
responsible for
in their private
lives, according
to Collins, and
how might they
respond to that
burden? Do they
even see it as a
burden?