Annie Malone

Early life Annie Minerva Turnbo was born in Metropolis, Illinois, the daughter of Robert and Isabella Turnbo, who had formerly been enslaved in Kentucky. Robert served with the Union 1st Kentucky Cavalry in the Civil War. Isabella took the couple's children and escaped from Kentucky, a neutral border state that was maintaining slavery.

After traveling down the Ohio River, she found refuge in Metropolis, Illinois, as the state was free. She was reunited with her husband. Years later, Annie Turnbo was born on a farm near Metropolis in Massac County, Illinois, the tenth of eleven children.

While out of school, Turnbo grew so fascinated with hair and hair care that she often practiced hairdressing with her sister. With expertise in both chemistry and hair care, Turnbo began to develop her own hair-care products. At the time, many women used goose fat, heavy oils, soap, or bacon grease to straighten their curls, which damaged both scalp and hair.

Career By the beginning of the 1900s, Turnbo moved with her older siblings to Lovejoy, now known as Brooklyn, Illinois. She named her new product "Wonderful Hair Grower". To promote her new product, Turnbo sold the Wonderful Hair Grower in bottles door-to-door.

One of her selling agents, Sarah Breedlove Davis, Author John Whitfield noted that this is a combination of the married names of Annie Pope (she had married in 1902) and her sister Laura Roberts. (Other sources have said it may have been derived from a word in Mende, an African language.)

Poro College employed nearly 200 people in St. Louis. Through its school and franchise businesses, the college created jobs for almost 75,000 women in North and South America, Africa and the Philippines.

Malone's business thrived until 1927, when her husband filed for divorce. Having served as president of the company, he demanded half of the business's value, based on his claim that his contributions had been integral to its success.

On April 28, 1914, Annie Turnbo married Aaron Eugene Malone, a former teacher and religious book salesman. He became involved in her business, serving as president of the company. They divorced in 1927.

By the 1920s, Annie Turnbo Malone had become a multi-millionaire. and the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C.

She made a founding $10,000 contribution to help establish the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home. She served as president on the board of directors from 1919 to 1943.

The Orphans Home is located in the historic Ville neighborhood. Upgraded and expanded, the facility was renamed in the entrepreneur's honor as the Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center. This also suggests its contemporary practices, to serve short-term crisis housing needs and to focus on long-term support of families in a variety of ways.

Honors, death and legacy Turnbo was named an honorary member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. and was awarded an honorary degree from Howard University. In this version, the character is renamed Addie Munroe.