Annie Malone

Annie Turnbo Malone was a millionaire, philanthropist, and beauty industry pioneer who built one of the first Black-owned corporations in America — years before Madam C.J. Walker, who actually trained under Malone before starting her own competing business. Malone's Poro Company, founded in 1900 in St. Louis, sold hair care products and cosmetics for Black women and at its peak employed 75,000 sales agents across the country and grossed millions annually.

Born in Metropolis, Illinois, in 1869, Malone was orphaned as a child and raised by an older sister. She had no formal education in chemistry but developed her own hair care products through experimentation, creating the "Wonderful Hair Grower" that became her signature product. She moved to St. Louis in 1902 and built Poro College — a massive complex that served as manufacturing plant, beauty school, community center, and civic hub for Black St. Louis.

Malone's philanthropy was extraordinary. She donated millions to Black educational institutions, orphanages, and civic organizations. She was one of the largest donors to the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home and gave so generously to what is now Wilberforce University that they renamed a building in her honor. Her business acumen and generosity made her one of the most powerful Black women in early twentieth-century America.