Madam C.J. Walker is probably the best-known African-American woman entrepreneur of her era — born Sarah Breedlove in 1867 to former slaves and orphaned at age seven, she later built a hair care company that made her a millionaire and an icon. But before she reinvented herself and launched an empire that still dominates the history books, Sarah Breedlove got her big break with Annie Turnbo Malone.
Like Madam C.J. Walker, Annie Turnbo (who later took the married name Malone) was born to formerly enslaved parents who died during her early childhood. In high school, the already hair-conscious Malone discovered that she had a knack for chemistry, which stuck with her long after illness forced her to leave school without a diploma.
By the turn of the century, Turnbo was experimenting with hair care products specifically for Black women, who had few commercially available options. Without off-the-shelf products to straighten and style their hair, Black women often resorted to heavy oils or corrosive mixtures of lye and potatoes, and struggled with hair loss, breakage, and scalp irritation. Turnbo saw an opportunity, and created her signature Wonderful Hair Grower (a name that Walker herself would later copy) as a gentler alternative to harsh homemade concoctions.
Turnbo's products and her signature Poro hair-growing system, which emphasized a clean scalp and regular massage, were a hit, and she headed to St. Louis in 1902, where money was flowing like water ahead of the 1904 World's Fair. Malone soon hired a team of assistants — among them a shrewd former laundress named Sarah Breedlove — to go door-to-door with Poro products. Business grew, and, flush with cash after the World's Fair, Annie Turnbo and the Poro system became household names.
Even with competition from Madam C.J. Walker and her own Wonderful Hair Grower, Annie Turnbo Malone quickly built a vast fortune with Poro products. Though she lived well, she gave most of her money to charity during her lifetime, and her multimillion estate was considerably smaller by the time she died in 1957.
Today, Annie Turnbo Malone often disappears in the shadow of Madam C.J. Walker, but her good works continue. In 1946, the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home adopted a new name — the Annie Malone Children's Home, in honor of Malone, who served as president from 1919 through 1943. Now called the Annie Malone Children and Family Services Center, it still operates today at 2612 Annie Malone Drive.
