CHICAGO (AP) — George E. Johnson Sr., a trailblazer in the Black hair care industry whose company became the first Black-owned business ever listed on the American Stock Exchange, has passed away at the age of 99, his family announced.
Johnson died Monday at his residence in downtown Chicago. No cause of death was provided.
Together with his late wife, Joan, Johnson launched Johnson Products in 1954 on Chicago’s South Side, starting with just a $250 loan. Over the decades, that small venture grew into a massive hair care empire serving a predominantly Black customer base, featuring well-known brands such as Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen.
The company also gained widespread recognition as a national sponsor of the popular 1970s music and dance television program “Soul Train.”
“Johnson Products became a fixture in homes and salons around the world and a source of pride throughout Black America,” the family said in a written statement.
In 2024, Johnson published his memoir, titled “Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street.”
“I had an epiphany,” Johnson said in a statement released by the book’s publisher, Little, Brown and Company. “In that experience, I clearly heard five words: ‘You must tell your story.’ I believed it was the voice of the Lord. I made a 180 degree turn and immediately sought a writer.”
Born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi, Johnson relocated to Chicago as a child alongside his family. Their journey north took place during what historians call the First Great Migration — a period between 1910 and 1940 when tens of thousands of Black Southerners moved to northern and midwestern cities seeking employment and relief from racial oppression.
As a young man, Johnson contributed to his family’s finances by shining shoes, busing tables at local eateries, and setting up pins at a bowling alley.
“Those early experiences shaped the values that guided him throughout his life: humility, determination, personal responsibility, and the golden rule: treating everyone the way he wished to be treated, with dignity and respect,” his family stated.
Beyond his hair care empire, Johnson went on to establish Independence Bank and made history as the first Black person to serve on the board of directors of Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison. Through the George E. Johnson Educational Fund, more than 1,000 college scholarships were awarded to students.
