Gertrude's Beauty Parlor

Gertrude’s Beauty Shoppe (also called Gertrude’s Beauty Parlor and Gertrude’s Beauty Shop) appeared in the Green Book from 1947-1955. It was located at 415 S. 7th Street in Wilmington. Gertrude’s was listed in the Green Book as “Gertrude’s--415 S. 7th St.” and “Gertrude--415 S. 7th Street” under “Beauty Parlors. The shop was owned by Gertrude Beatrice Green.¹

Gertrude Beatrice Wallace was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1896. She was raised by her mother, Ida Wallace Green, and her step-father, Andrew Green, and had one adopted brother. She lived with her family on Federal Point Road in Masonboro, just outside of Wilmington, as a teenager.²

Gertrude married John Green in Wilmington, NC, in 1916. Gertrude and John relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where John worked as a laborer and Gertrude worked as a maid for a private family. The couple had two boarders residing with them in 1930 - Lulu Freeman, whose husband later owned Hill’s Restaurant (another business advertised in the Green Book), and Althia Aldrich.³

Gertrude and John separated in the 1920’s. Gertrude appears to move between New York and Wilmington, NC, following the separation, working as a maid in Manhattan, NY, in 1930, then as a cook in her step-father Henry Sampson’s restaurant in 1932, then returning to New York again around 1935. Gertrude made a permanent return to Wilmington between 1935 and 1938, opening Gertrude’s Beauty Shoppe at 415 S. 7th Street. She lived with her mother and step-father at 1025 S. 7th Street.⁴

By 1942 Gertrude had expanded her business to a second shop at 133 Virgil Street in Whiteville, NC. She also allowed another small business owner, Ollie Higgins, to open a restaurant in the same building as her beauty parlor at 415 S. 7th Street for a brief period. Ollie’s Restaurant was also listed in the Green Book. Gertrude Green continued to live at 1025 S. 7th Street and run the beauty parlor at 415 S. 7th Street until her death in 1955.⁵

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2019

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 66; Green, 1948 Green Book, 63; Victor Green, 1949 Green Book, 57; Green, 1950 Green Book, 64; Green, 1951 Green Book, 55; Green, 1952 Green Book, 55; Green, 1953 Green Book, 55; Green, 1954 Green Book, 54; Green, 1955 Green Book, 54.
2. 1910 United States Census, Masonboro, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. "Beatrice Wallace," accessed from www.ancestry.com; Gertrude Beatrice Green, June 4, 1955, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
3. Beatrice Wallace and John Green, August 22, 1916, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina, Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1920 United States Census, Ward 26, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, digital image s.v. "Gertrude Green," accessed from www.ancestry.com.
4. 1930 United States Census, Manhattan, New York, NY, digital image s.v. "Gertrude Green," accessed from www.ancestry.com; Hill’s 1932 Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 154, street directory, p. 476; Hill’s 1938 Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 177; 1940 United States Census, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. "Gertrude G. Wallace," accessed from www.ancestry.com. 
5. Advertisement, Cape Fear Journal (Wilmington), February, 28, 1942, pg.4, accessed from Cape Fear Museum Collections MC 12.1998.149.0002; Hill’s 1947 Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 137, street directory, p. 65, classified directory, p. 469; Hill’s 1948-1949 Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, pp. 123, 130, 268 classified directory, p. 441, street directory, pp. 64, 65; Hill’s 1952 Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, pp. 114, 120, classified directory, p. 421, street directory, p. 12; Gertrude Beatrice Green, June 4, 1955, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com.