Prior to the revolutionary times of the sixties, African Americans may have felt greater societal pressure to assimilate in order to be accepted by their white counterparts and regarded as respectable individuals. African American men and women who have acquired financial wealth and living as middle-class citizens spent time and money to achieve the look that was considered acceptable and also attractive. Conforming to the societal norm may have provided them with more opportunities for employment, economic mobility, and respect.
Portrait of a woman identified as Rose. She is posed with her shoulders exposed and hair styled in curls.
Black and white portrait photograph of a woman identified as Miss Cole wearing pearl earrings and her hair styled in curls.
Hairstyles featured in the portraits of women from the Walter Lawrence Smith Photography Collection feature the trends of the times–for both Caucasian and African American women. The women in these photographs all have chemically straightened hair. Oddly enough, after the effort of straightening the hair, the hair was then curled again to create the looser curls created by hot curlers or tin cans and the tighter spit curls, which required women to wind small sections of hair around a finger and then pinned tightly near the scalp. The hair was then dried overnight and released into tight curls.
Portrait of lady, identified as Miss Miller, with her hair pinned-up and in a net.
A black and white portrait photograph of a young woman identified as Miss Livingston living in Detroit, MI at the residence of 4413 John R, Apt. 3; T.E.- 18237.
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While there have been criticisms about African Americans altering and disguising their natural hair in order to achieve the “ideal” look, some African American women have expressed that choosing a hairstyle is a matter of personal choice, rather than trying to emulate Caucasian hair. They argued that making the choice to wear their hair in modern hairstyles increased self-esteem and was liberating to African Americans, especially for young girls and women. Madame C. J. Walker was a successful entrepreneur in the black hair industry, allowing African Americans to achieve the look they wanted. In either case, hair was and still is a social, personal, and political issue in African American communities.
Further reading about the history of African-American hair can be found at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History’s library and archive:
Hair: the exhibit
Hair story : untangling the roots of Black hair in America
Tenderheaded : a comb-bending collection of hair stories
Happy to be nappy
Corson, R. (1965). Fashions in hair; The first five thousand years. Communication arts books. New York: Hastings House.
Patton, T. O. (2006). Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair. NWSA Journal, 18(2), 24-51.
Rooks, N. (2008). Style and Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women, 1920-1975. The Journal of African American History, 93(4), 588-589.
Sherrow, V. (2006). Encyclopedia of hair: A cultural history. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.
Tice, K. W. (2006). For Appearance’s Sake: Beauty, Bodies, Spectacle, and Consumption. Journal of Women’s History, 18(4), 147-156.
Young, C. (2003). Assimilation and Social Change Dynamics in African and African American Communities. Western Journal of Black Studies, 27(3), 164-175.
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