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Olive Lee Benson
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Olive Lee Benson
Early Life
- Olive Lee Benson was born on September 11, 1932 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- She was the 9th of 10 children.
- She grew up in the north part of town in a close-knit African American community.
- Benson didn't have the easiest of childhoods. Her mother died when she was only 3 years old and it was a strugle for her father to raise a family of 10 on his salery. Another difficulty, Olive Benson had to face was racism and discrimination, especially when it came to the hair industry.
- She finished highschool in 1949, then went to Wilfred Academy of Hair and Beauty in Boston and got her diploma and certification to practice hairdressing and styling.
- "continued her professional training and education at Pivot Point (Chicago), Vidal Sasson and Jingles (London, England), Clairol (New York) and Wella (Massachusetts)." (The History Makers)
Begininngs
Due to difficulty with finances, Olive Benson's father couldn't afford college. In a story published by the Boston Globe in 1974, Benson said, "He gave me $50 when I got out of high school and told me to do what I knew best." "Since I made money fixing my neighbor's hair as a kid, I figured I might be able to make a living as a hair stylist."
Begininngs
Growing Success
After graduating beauty school, she found a job at a salon. But she didn't stay there too long because the owner soon fired her. The reason was because "she was too popular with the customers." The same thing happened in the next salon. That's when she decided to open her first salon in 1959 in the neighborhood where she grew up. Wanting to expand, Benson moved her shop to Boston in the 1960s. And because of the growing success, she moved to two larger locations. With the continuing of successful growth, Benson opened her largest enterprise in Chestnut Hill, MA in 1997.
"Photo of Olive Benson taken in her hair salon for Bla...
"Photo of Olive Benson taken in her hair salon for Black Enterprise magazine." (The History Makers)
Clients
When it came to hair, Benson was widely known for her extraordinary work with curly hair textures, though she and her staff were trained to do any kind of hair. Her clientele widely consisted of women with very curly hair (often African Americans). "She offered the most advanced styling and hair treatment techniques... Women from a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds came to Olive's Beauty Salon to have their curly hair straightened and styled with the most up-to-date fashion." (The History Makers) Not only that but her clients also included "Diana Ross, The Temptations, Maria Cole (wife of Nat King Cole), Liz Walker, as well as the wife of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and many, many more." (http://www.mary4nails.com)
Discrimination
Discrimination
There were many moments of discrimination that Olive Benson had to face. One moment was in the 1960s, when she was trying to expand and rent a place in Boston. "The real estate agent said the spaces she was interested in were already rented. She called her friend, attorney Lawrence Shubow, and told him she was being discriminated against. "He rented it, then told them it was for me and that they had violated state law refusing to rent to me. So they didn't bother me anymore." (Boston Globe)
"Olive Benson at a hairstyling show." (The History Makers)
"Olive Benson and her team of stylists, who represented her hair salon, Cambridge Salon, in a Massachusetts hairstyling competition." (The History Makers)
Other moments of discrimination that Benson faced were during style competions. Only after switching from black models to white ones, did Olive Benson start winning. “I entered these competitions the state would put on and I found out early on that I wasn’t accepted. They weren’t judging the black models that I was putting in. I knew I could style hair just as well as these other stylists, and I decided I had to really get in and win. So I went and took classes with some world renowned stylists and came back and decided to enter Massachusetts again. So, I put in two models—a black model and a blue eyed-blonde white model. I made her hair strawberry blonde. They judged the competition, and they said, ‘And third place goes to number six.’ That was me, for the work I had done on the black model. Then they called second place, and then first. ‘And first place goes to, number six.’ That was me again, and I was already on the platform. They didn’t know I had done two of them. So I just stepped over. And when I stepped over, they were amazed that a black hairdresser had just won the state show.”(The History Makers)
Success
"Every time a door closed on me, I opened it," Benson said in another Boston Globe publication. Olive Lee Benson was very successfull because of the effort she put in.
- "She was the designer and coordinator for several industry publications that set seasonal trends for both ethic and non-ethical styles."(The History Makers)
- She developed her own hair care product line called Universal Textures, which included the first universal relaxer (for all types of hair textures).
Success
"Olive Benson and other members of the National Cosmetology Association circa 1995." (The History Makers)
Awards & Honor
Olive Lee Benson received a lot of awards and honor including being the first African American inducted into the Hall of Renown of the National Cosmetology Association in 1991, awards from the International Beauty Show from 1991 to 1994, and being the first African American to receive a North American Hairstyling Award in 1996.
Awards & Honor
"Olive Benson (r.) in a Clairol sponsored hair coloring competition." (The History Makers)
Effects
Even though Olive Lee Benson passed away on June 27, 2005 at the age 72, her influence on the hair industry still lives on.
She impacted the industry greatly in diffrent ways, from over coming discrimination and encouraging equality to developing a universal relaxer. "Many will remember Ms. Benson as the first authentically multicultural stylist who insisted, hair is a texture, not an ethnicity."
(https://karlines.com)
Effects
Sources
- http://thmdigital.thehistorymakers.com/EAD/A2005.025.pdf
- http://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/olive-lee-benson-40
- http://karlines.com/hair-history-corner-olive-lee-benson-herstory/
- https://www.facebook.com/TheHstryMakers/posts/979012452146470
- https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.obituaries/aaVt79SKIio
- http://www.mary4nails.com/zazz/2005-08-05.htm