Hidden Figures: Rose Morgan #BlackHERstoryMonth​ 3/28 (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Rose Morgan #BlackHERstoryMonth 3/28

If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting! CashApp: $SerenSensei Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei Rose Meta Morgan was the owner and operator of the largest beauty parlor in New York for Black American women. She was also among the founders of New York’s only Black-owned commercial bank, the Freedom National Bank. Born in Edward, Mississippi in 1912, Rose Meta Morgan started styling hair for friends and neighbors at 12. By age 14, her ability to do hair had become a flourishing business, and clients would arrive at her house at 5:30 or 6 a.m. to get their hair done before work. She decided to attend cosmetology school to get her license, attending Morris School of Beauty in Chicago. After graduating, Morgan rented a booth in a neighborhood salon and began doing hair full-time. In 1938, she styled the hair of singer, actress and vaudeville star Ethel Waters when Waters had a singing engagement in Chicago, and impressed her so much that Morgan was invited to New York City as Waters' guest. Morgan fell in love with New York. She moved to the city, working out of the kitchen of a friend who owned a dress shop before renting a booth in a Sugar Hill salon with Waters as a star client. Within six months Morgan had established enough customers to open her own beauty shop, and opened a full-service salon on May 6, 1945. News traveled fast about Morgan’s technique, and she became known for using less hair product to achieve a softer, bouncier feel in clients’ hair. By 1946, the Rose Meta House of Beauty spanned an entire five floors and had a staff of 29, including 20 hairstylists, three massage therapists, skin care specialists and a registered nurse. A 1946 Ebony magazine article named it the “biggest Negro beauty parlor in the world.” In 1955, the facility was renovated, expanded, and reopened under a new name, Rose Morgan’s House of Beauty, with additional departments including dressmaking and charm school. A wig salon was added in 1960. The expansion was a huge success, cementing Rose Morgan’s House of Beauty as a household name at the time. In the 60s, she expanded into her own full line of cosmetics, as well as staging large-scale fashion and hair shows. Models showed off Morgan’s signature hairstyles and makeup, which she developed and sold herself as most makeup companies at the time didn’t make products for people with darker skin. Despite the success of her enterprise and expansions, including banking more than $3 million in financial institutions, Morgan often had challenges securing even small business loans because of her race. To combat racism in finance, Morgan decided to get to get into banking herself and in 1964 she started Freedom National Bank, the only commercial bank for Black Americans in New York. Baseball player Jackie Robinson was also an early founder and investor, but unfortunately, the bank eventually folded. Morgan retired in the 1970s and sold her New York salon, returned to Chicago where she died on Dec. 16, 2008. She was 96. #HiddenFigures #RoseMorgan ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren https://www.shophouseof950.com/embroidery-tees/theblackamericans https://www.shophouseof950.com/embroidery-tees/dacs?rq=d.a.c.s Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: 'A Woman to Know - Rose Morgan:' https://awomantoknow.substack.com/p/a-woman-to-know-rose-morgan 'Beauty mogul Rose Morgan:' http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2015/mar/12/beauty-mogul-rose-morgan/ 'Overlooked No More - Rose Morgan:' https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/obituaries/rose-morgan-overlooked.html 'EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About It! ‘No Lye: An American Beauty Story’ Gives Excellent History Lesson:' https://eurweb.com/2019/12/03/extra-extra-read-all-about-it-no-lye-an-american-beauty-story-gives-excellent-history-lesson/ Rose Morgan (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Morgan