Ad placed in The Houston Informer, June 11, 1921

Nobia A. Franklin (1892–1934, also known as Madame N.A. Franklin) was a Texas beautician and entrepreneur. Her business, geared towards beauty products for black women, was ranked third in the country behind Annie M. Turnbo-Malone's company and Madame C.J. Walker's "beauty empire."[1][2] Her cosmetics were "meant to flatter, rather than lighten darker skin tones."[3] Franklin's beauty products were never patented.[4]

Biography

Franklin was born in Cuero, Texas.[1] She was married on June 7, 1907, though she kept her name and passed on her last name to her daughter, Abbie.[5] In 1910, she moved to San Antonio and opened a salon inside her home.[5] During that time, she also sold her homemade hair products door-to-door to black families.[6] She was consciously emulating other "beauty moguls" like Walker.[7]

Franklin moved to Fort Worth in 1916.[5] She operated a beauty salon there for a short time before she moved to Houston.[1] In 1917, she opened the Franklin School of Beauty Culture.[3] She also opened a manufacturing center for beauty projects in the same year.[5]

In 1922, Franklin moved to Chicago, and taught the "Franklin way" of hair styling to others.[3] She established a headquarters on South State Street, a branch on Grand Boulevard and a manufacturing plant for her beauty products on East 35th Street in Chicago.[8] She maintained her original school in Houston, even as she was expanding into other locations. In Houston, W.L. McCoy was the general manager of her salon, overseeing a renovation of the building in 1924.[9]

She began to prepare her daughter, Abbie to take over the business; in 1927, they formed the N.A. Franklin Association of Beauty Culture.[5] In 1930, due to health reasons, she turned over her business to Abbie and her son-in-law, James H. (J.H.) Jemison.[5] When Franklin died in 1934, her business was inherited by Abbie and Jemison.[10]

Legacy

Abbie and Jemison continued to promote Franklin's beauty school, although they withdrew from Chicago and focused on Houston after 1934.[7] Franklin's beauty school is still in operation in Houston.[11] It is considered the "oldest continuously operated beauty school in Texas,"[6] and before desegregation, was the largest African American beauty school in the Southern United States.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Steptoe, Tyina (2015). Houston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow City. University of California Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 9780520958531.
  2. ↑ "Texas Woman Demonstrating Group's Commercial Ability; Goods Universally Praised". The Houston Informer. 25 August 1923. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Williams, Joy (2 July 2013). "The Beauty of Juneteenth". The Houston Sun. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "Madame Nobia (N.A.) Franklin". Ask Me About My Hair. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pruitt, Bernadette (3 July 2013). "Franklin, Nobia A." Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 Franklin, Cynthia Coleman (17 February 2005). "Franklin Beauty School marks 90th year". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Pruitt, Bernadette (2013). The Other Great Migration: The Movement of Rural African Americans to Houston, 1900-1941 (PDF). Texas A&M University Press. pp. 239–240. ISBN 9781623490034 – via Project Muse.
  8. ↑ "Madame N.A. Frankling MFG. Co. Big Business Builders; Parlors Dot Both Sections". The Houston Informer. 30 June 1923. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Madame N.A. Franklin Improves Her Downtown Beauty Parlor". The Houston Informer. 1 March 1924. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  10. ↑ Boney, Jeffrey L. (20 February 2013). "Black Business Is Black History! The Houston Forward Times Highlights Three History-Making Houston Businesses". Houston Forward Times. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "Beginnings in 1915". Franklin Beauty School. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
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