George Johnson, pioneer of Black hair care products, dies at 99, spokesperson says
Chicago businessman and founder of Johnson Products, George E. Johnson, has died.
A spokesperson for Johnson said he died on Monday.
Johnson and his late wife, Joan, started Johnson Products in 1954 on Chicago's South Side after securing a $250 loan. It grew into a hair care empire catering almost exclusively to Black people, with brands like Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen.
Johnson Products was also the first Black company listed on the American Stock Exchange.
Outside of hair care, Johnson also founded Independence Bank in 1964 and became the exclusive sponsor for the TV dance and music show, "Soul Train."
Don Jackson, a Chicago media entrepreneur and one of Johnson's longtime friends and business associates, said without Johnson, there would be no "Soul Train."
"Without George Johnson and Johnson Products there would not have been a Soul Train or a Soul Train Music Awards," Jackson said. "He was a great businessman who loved his community."
Johnson's memoir, "Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street," was published in 2024.
"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."
Johnson was born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi, and moved to Chicago as a child with his family. Their move occurred during what's called the First Great Migration, between 1910 and 1940, when tens of thousands of southern Blacks moved to northern and midwestern cities for jobs and to escape racial oppression.
To help the family financially, Johnson shined shoes, cleared tables in eateries and set up pins in 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 said.
Johnson later would found Independence Bank, and he became the first Black person to serve on the board of directors of the Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison. The George E. Johnson Educational Fund awarded more than 1,000 college scholarships.
Founder and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, John W. Rogers, called Johnson an inspiration.
"He was just absolutely extraordinary. He was a mentor, a friend, but someone who could help you think through tough issues and tough challenges you face as a small African American business," he said.
His honors span from receiving the American Black Achievement Award from Ebony Magazine in 1978 to the Public Service Award of the Harvard Club in 1979 for his work with the George E. Johnson Foundation and Educational Fund.
Johnson was 99 years old.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.
