Annie Turnbo Malone (August 9, 1869 - May 10, 1957) was an African-American businesswoman, inventor and philanthropist who, in the first three decades of the 20th century, built a large and prominent commercial and educational enterprise centered around cosmetics for African-American women and, subsequently, training and poise for both genders.

Annie Malone was born in Metropolis, Illinois, where she lived with her eleven siblings until her parents' deaths. She was then sent upstate to be raised by her elder sister in Peoria. While there, she took an early interest in hair textures, and in the 1890s started looking for better methods of hair care for African-American women. At the time, improvements were much needed, since many women used goose fat and heavy oils to straighten their thick curls. The process of using oils and fats as straighteners caused damage to both scalp and hair.

At the beginning of the 1900s, Annie Malone had pioneered and revolutionized hair care methods for all African Americans. She created a variety of hair care treatments, including the first patented hot comb, which preceded the one popularized by an early employee of hers, Madam C.J. Walker. As early as 1902, she and her assistants were going door-to-door selling her own unique brand of hair care products, "Poro", a West African name, which means physical and spiritual growth. By 1917, as United States entered World War I, Annie Malone had become so successful that she founded and opened Poro College in St. Louis, the first educational institution in America dedicated to the study and teaching of black cosmetology. The school employed nearly two hundred people and ran a strict curriculum centered around instruction on the correct manner of walking, talking and style of dress designed to maintain a solid public persona

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