Helen ‘Curl’ Harris

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

 

This was Helen ‘Curl’ Harris – an original Swing Fashionista and entrepreneur at a time when women - let alone African-American women - rarely operated businesses. A self-made graduate of the Skidmore Vocational School and the Philadelphia Charm and Model School, she ran and operated numerous beauty businesses in Philadelphia including Curl’s Beautyrama, Curl’s Beauty Salon and Charm Service and Curl’s Moderne Beautyrama.  She created her own line of make-up and hair products and Ella Fitzgerald and Josephine Baker were among her clients.

Source: Emory University Library