Background
Johnson was born in Richton, Mississippi in a three-room sharecropper"s shack. When he was two, he moved to Chicago with his mother, Priscilla, after his parents had separated.
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George Johnson
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He later attended Wendell Phillips High School but dropped out to work full-time jobs.
Career
At the age of eight, while attending Doolittle Elementary School, Johnson also started work as a shoe shine boy. During the day he was a bus boy and in the evenings he set pins at a local bowling alley. In 1944, he took a job working for Samuel B. Fuller, who owned a cosmetics firm, as a production chemistry
Johnson borrowed $250 from a bank and another $250 from a friend to finance the venture.
The company’s first product was Ultra Wave, a hair relaxer for mentor In 1957, Ultra Sheen, a revolutionary hair straightener that could easily be used in the home, was introduced for women.
During the next quarter century, more product lines were introduced like Afro Sheen. Afro-Sheen, one of Johnson"s best-known products, was released in the late 1960s, at a time when the "Afro" became a popular hairstyle for African Americans.
Over the next few decades, Johnson Products continued to grow, focusing its efforts on not only its products line but on training cosmetologists on the proper usage as well.
In 1964, Johnson founded Independence Bank, and during the 1970s he became the exclusive sponsor behind the nationally syndicated dance show Soul Train. In 1971, Johnson Products became the first African American-owned company to be listed on the American Stock Exchange. That same year, Johnson became the first African American to serve on the board of directors of Commonwealth Edison.
Achievements
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Born
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Died
2002 (aged 74) -
Nationality
United States -
Ethnicity