(From Wikipedia)......Annie Minerva Turnbo Malone (August 9, 1869 – May 10, 1957) was an American businesswoman, inventor and philanthropist. In the first three decades of the 20th century, she founded and developed a large and prominent commercial and educational enterprise centered on cosmetics for African-American women....Annie Minerva Turnbo was born in southern Illinois, the daughter of escaped slaves Robert and Isabella (Cook) Turnbo. While her father went off to fight for the Union troops in the Civil War, her mother had taken their children and escaped from Kentucky, a neutral border state that maintained slavery. After traveling down the Ohio River, she found refuge in Metropolis, Illinois. There Annie Turnbo was later born, the 10th of 11 children....By the beginning of the 1900s, Turnbo moved with older siblings to Lovejoy, now known as Brooklyn, Illinois.... While experimenting with hair and different hair care products, she developed and manufactured her own line of non-damaging hair straighteners, special oils, and hair-stimulant products for African-American women.....In 1902, Turnbo moved to a thriving St. Louis, where she and three hired assistants sold her hair care products from door-to-door. As part of her marketing, she gave away free treatments to attract more customers.... In 1903 she briefly married a Mr. Pope but soon divorced him when he tried to interfere in her growing business....Due to the high demand for her product in St. Louis, in 1904 Turnbo opened her first shop on 2223 Market Street..... She also launched a wide advertising campaign in the black press, held news conferences, toured many southern states, and recruited many women whom she trained to sell her products.....One of her selling agents, Sarah Breedlove (who became known as Madam C. J. Walker when she set up her own business), encouraged Turnbo to copyright her products under the name Poro because of what she called fraudulent imitations and to discourage counterfeit versions..... Poro is a West African word meaning physical and spiritual growth. Due to the growth in her business, in 1910 Turnbo moved to a larger facility on 3100 Pine Street....On April 28, 1914, Annie Turnbo married Aaron Eugene Malone, a former teacher and bible salesman.....By the 1920s, Annie Turnbo Malone had become a multi-millionaire. In 1924 she paid income tax of nearly $40,000, reportedly the highest in Missouri. While extremely wealthy, Malone lived modestly, giving thousands of dollars to the local black YMCA and the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC.[1] She also donated money to the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home, where she served as president on the board of directors from 1919 to 1943..... With her help, in 1922 it bought a facility at 2612 Goode Avenue (which was renamed Annie Malone Drive in her honor)......The Orphans Home is still located in the historic Ville neighborhood. Upgraded and expanded, the facility was renamed in the entrepreneurs honor as the Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center......As well as funding many programs, Malone ensured that her employees, mostly black, were paid well and given opportunities for advancement.....Thank you, Ms. Annie....Ive only heard about your accomplishments today.......we were ALL Blessed by your insight;.....Peace to you, throughout Eternity.....
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 22:48:50 +0000
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