This is the third week of our May biweekly series that focuses on black women who changed the world with their inventions.
Marjorie Stewart Joyner
Marjorie Stewart Joyner was the granddaughter of a slave and a white enslaver. On October 24, 1896, she was born to George Emmanuel Stewart, a teacher and Annie Stewart.
In 1904, her parents moved to Ohio and eventually divorced three years later. This caused Joyner to keep living with various relatives till she turned 16.
Joyner moved to Chicago to live with her mother and studied at the Chicago musical college, from which she received a certificate for dramatic art and expression in 1914.
She began her studies in cosmetology and graduated from A.B. Molar Beauty School, becoming the first African American to graduate from the school.
In 1916, at the age of 20, she got married to Robert E. Joyner, and she opened her salon. They had two daughters. Joyner met Madam C. J Walker and went on to work for Walker becoming the national adviser to Walker’s company, overseeing 200 beauty schools.
Joyner’s personal experience in a salon made her understand how demanding it was to work on anything that involved the hair iron, and this led to her inventing the permanent wave machine.
She never made any money from this invention as the rights belonged to Madam C.J Walker’s company where she worked. She dedicated her life to blacks’ betterment and worked with Eleanor Roosevelt.
Her hard work earned her a position on the Democratic national committee to represent the interests of black women.
Marjorie Stewart Joyner helped write the first cosmetology laws for the state of Illinois and helped found the National Council of Negro Women.
She was a philanthropist and educator who was awarded a degree in psychology from Bethune-Cookman College at the age of 77.
She died of heart failure at the age of 98 on December 27, 1994.
Annie Malone
Annie Turnbo Malone was one of the first African American women to become a millionaire. She was born on August 9, 1869, to Robert and Isabella Cook Turnbo.
The tenth out of 11 children, she was raised by an older sibling when her parents died at a young age. She was frequently sick while growing up, which hindered her from completing high school.
She became fascinated with hair and hair care and began making products to cater to the different textures of African American hair. She also had a best seller product, The Wonderful hair grower. She also developed and patented the pressing comb, which is still in use.
In 1904, she opened a retail store which garnered a lot of traffic. Malone dedicated her time and wealth to social welfare and community building, which was the motivation behind building Poro college.
One of the African American major philanthropists, Malone, gave out much of her fortune to help African Americans and donated much more to charities.
She died of a stroke on May 10, 1957, in Chicago.
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