Sara Spencer Washington and the Making of a Beauty Empire

Black History Month 2025

Sara Spencer Washington is the founder of Apex, one of the most popular Afro hair care brands in 1930s America. She used the wealth and influence she built to give back to her African American community, raise the status of African American women, and lastingly change perceptions of Black culture.

It all started with a small beauty salon Sara Spencer Washington opened in 1911 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1919, she went on to found the company "Apex News and Hair Company."

At that time, the trend of wearing Afro hair in curls and waves was making a comeback.

Sara's business was built around teaching how to care for Afro hair and developing the hair care products to go with it. Her company grew into a successful beauty empire with 70 hair products and training schools and offices in 11 cities across the US.

Sara Spencer Washington was so successful that she became a millionaire. She used that money to support Black people in America. Among other things, she donated to Black civil rights movements, pushed individual restaurants to serve Black customers, and founded a spa and the Apex Golf Course, where everyone, regardless of skin color or background, could play golf and relax.

Her overarching goal was to strengthen Black people in America by pushing back against the narrative that Black people are less beautiful than white people, and by opening up access to politics and the business world for Black people.

At a time when there weren't many opportunities for African Americans, she supported her community and positively shaped the lives of many Black people. Beyond her generous donations, she created jobs for countless Black people in her salons, offices, and factories. Apex News and Hair Company also trained women as certified Afro hair specialists so they could open their own salons and become financially independent.

Former employee Robert Hayes recalls his time as an Apex sales agent and the special influence of Sara Spencer Washington like this:

"It was a vision and a dream to do something to break out of this prison in which Black women were simply locked up. And they had to break out. And they broke out. And not just that - they did something for all of us. They passed on to us the spirit of believing that possibilities exist."

The main source for this post was the book "The Story of Afro Hair" by K.N. Chimbiri. We highly recommend it. With beautiful illustrations, it covers 5,000 years of Afro hair history, trends, and styles.

Source: https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/new_jersey/The-woman-in-fur-who-integrated-Capt-Starns-created-a-black-womans-hair-care-company-became-one-of-Atlantic-Citys-original-millionaires.html