2018 Black History Month

Annie Minerva Turnbo Malone (1877-1957)

African-American Educator, Entrepreneur & Inventor.

Annie Minerva Turnbo Malone developed and manufactured her own line of non-damaging hair straighteners, special oils, and hair-stimulant products for African-American women. She named her new product “Wonderful Hair Grower and she sold the Wonderful Hair Grower in bottles from door-to-door.

She was the founder and the owner of Poro College which started in St. Louis and later occupied an entire city block in Chicago which she owned. She was the first person in Missouri to own a Rolls Royce. In 1926 she paid over $40,000.00 in taxes. Annie Malone, trained over 75,000 women entrepreneurs.