Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield was born into slavery in Natchez, Mississippi somewhere between 1817 and 1826, to Anna Greenfield and a man whose name may have been Taylor. According to an 1854 article in The Tri-Weekly Commercial, “her mother was of Indian descent, her father an African.”

In the early 1820s, Greenfield’s mistress, Elizabeth H. Greenfield, a former plantation owner who moved to Philadelphia after divorcing her second husband and emancipated her slaves. E.H. Greenfield worked with the American Emancipation Society to send 18 formerly enslaved residents of the Greenfield plantation, including Anna Greenfield and two of her daughters, to Liberia on August 2, 1831, aboard the brig Criterion.

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield remained in Philadelphia. She studied music as a child.

In about 1851, Greenfield began to sing at private parties, debuting at the Buffalo Musical Association. From 1851 to 1853 she toured as managed by Colonel J. H. Wood, a supporter of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, who would not allow black patrons into her concerts.

In 1853, Greenfield debuted at Metropolitan Hall in New York City, which held an audience of 4,000—white patrons only. After the concert, Greenfield apologized to her own people for their exclusion from the performance and gave a concert to benefit the Home of Aged Colored Persons and the Colored Orphan Asylum.

She was born a slave in the Mississippi Delta but traveled the world singing to rich and poor audiences

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Greenfield

In Women’s History Month we will tell the story of African American woman, born into slavery but brought beautiful music to many people.

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield was born into slavery in Natchez, Mississippi somewhere between 1817 and 1826, to Anna Greenfield and a man whose name may have been Taylor. According to an 1854 article in The Tri-Weekly Commercial, “her mother was of Indian descent, her father an African.”

In the early 1820s, Greenfield’s mistress, Elizabeth H. Greenfield, a former plantation owner who moved to Philadelphia after divorcing her second husband and emancipated her slaves. E.H. Greenfield worked with the American Emancipation Society to send 18 formerly enslaved residents of the Greenfield plantation, including Anna Greenfield and two of her daughters, to Liberia on August 2, 1831, aboard the brig Criterion.

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield remained in Philadelphia. She studied music as a child.

In about 1851, Greenfield began to sing at private parties, debuting at the Buffalo Musical Association. From 1851 to 1853 she toured as managed by Colonel J. H. Wood, a supporter of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, who would not allow black patrons into her concerts.

In 1853, Greenfield debuted at Metropolitan Hall in New York City, which held an audience of 4,000—white patrons only. After the concert, Greenfield apologized to her own people for their exclusion from the performance and gave a concert to benefit the Home of Aged Colored Persons and the Colored Orphan Asylum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Greenfield

This month i highlighted the life of Madam CJ Walker who helped create an industry that allowed women of African descent to feel beautiful.

Madam C.J. Walker was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activist. She is recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the Guinness Book of World Records. 

She was born Sarah Breedlove in December 23, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana. Her parents died when she was seven. She went to live with her sister and brother in law in Mississippi. She had three months of school and then went to work as a domestic servant. She married Moses McWilliams at age 14 and had one daughter, Leila. He died in 1887.

She moved to St Louis, Mo in 1888. She had dandruff and scalp problems. She learned about hair care from her brothers and went to work selling products for Annie Malone.

Walker made her fortune by developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and hair care products for black women through the business she founded, Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.

Walker started her mail order business in Denver around 1906, but later closing it in 1907. In 1908 she moved the business to Pittsburgh, and by 1910 established a base in Indianapolis. She also traveled to Central America and the Caribbean to sell her products. In 1916, she moved her personal life to New York City. She had trained more than 20,000 women by 1917, which was the first year of her annual conference held in Philadelphia.

She became known also for her philanthropy and activism. She made financial donations to numerous organizations such as the NAACP, and became a patron of the arts. 

She died at age 51 in 1919 in New York City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madam_C._J._Walker

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This piece is by my brother, Devin Anderson.