Virginia
Marjorie Stewart Joyner
(1896-1994)
Virginia
Marjorie Stewart Joyner
(1896-1994)
Marjorie Stewart Joyner was born in Monterey, Virginia on October 24, 1896. She moved to Chicago at a young age, and started studying cosmetology as a teenager. She became associated with Madam C.J. Walker, a famous beauty expert at the time. While working for Madam C.J. Walker, Marjorie became frustrated that the day after having their hair done most women looked like “an accident going someplace to happen.” Marjorie decided to do something about this and invented a permanent wave machine that would allow a hairdo to stay set for days. In 1926, she became the fi
rst African American woman to receive a patent in the United States for her invention. However, because she working for the Walker company at the time of her invention, Marjorie never received any of its profits.Marjorie later became the Director of C.J. Walker’s
nationwide chain of beauty schools and also co-founded (with Mary Bethune Mcleod)
the United Beauty School Owners and Teachers association in 1945.
Throughout her life, Marjorie remained committed to helping other people.
She raised money for black colleges, was a chair for the Chicago
Defender (an influential black newspaper), and even set up a “beauty salon
on wheels” which she travled with, teaching poor women beauty culture.
Marjorie Joyner once said, “There is
nothing a woman can’t do. Men
might think they do things all by themselves – but a woman is always there
guiding them or helping them.”
For more information on Marjorie Joyner, you can visit the following websites:
 | http://www.inventorsmuseum.com/MarjorieJoyner.htm
| http://www.sisterdivas.org/history.htm
| http://prism.troyst.edu/~arnold/final%20%20mojo_files/frame.htm
| |
