Pauline Humphrey and Black History in Iowa

Group portrait, including Pauline B. Humphrey, front row center wearing tied shoes, with hands in pockets, outside Crescent School of Beauty Culture with Dormitory, [1940s], African American Museum of Iowa

Pauline Brown Humphrey was the first African American woman to own and operate a certified cosmetology school in Iowa and the first certified to teach cosmetology in the state.

Cosmetology students in Crescent Beauty School Classroom, 1950s, African American Museum of Iowa

Sources: African American Museum of Iowa, Iowa Women's Foundation, and The University of Iowa Libraries

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