Nobia A. Franklin

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]

Ad placed in The Houston Informer, June 11, 1921

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. 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. 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. Pruitt, Bernadette (3 July 2013). "Franklin, Nobia A." Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  6. Franklin, Cynthia Coleman (17 February 2005). "Franklin Beauty School marks 90th year". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  7. 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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