Howard's Beauty Parlor

Howard’s Beauty Salon appeared in the Green Book from 1947-1955.  It was located at 121 S. 13th Street  in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was listed in the Green Book as “Howard’s--121 S. 13th St.” under the “Beauty Parlors” section.” The shop was owned by Janie Mae Ennett Howard.¹

Janie Mae Wallace was born in North Carolina in 1909. As a young girl she and her mother, Cornelia Wallace,  lived with  her maternal grandmother, Ann Wallace at 15 9th Street. Janie’s parents, Cornelia Wallace and Lawrence Ennett, married in 1912, and Janie took her father’s last name. Janie’s mother died in 1927 and her father followed in 1929.²

Janie married Herbert Howard in 1928. The couple first lived in a home on Military Road and later moved to a home at 1317 Orange Street. They both worked for a private family, Janie as a maid and Herbert as a butler and chauffeur. When Janie first opened Howard’s Beauty Salon in the mid-to-late 1930’s it was located at 108 S. 13th Street. The couple moved from Orange Street to 121 S. 13th Street in the early 1940’s, and Janie relocated Howard’s Beauty Salon to the same address.³

Herbert became a postal carrier in the early 1940’s and Janie continued to operate her beauty parlor from the couple’s home. Herbert and Janie separated some time in the mid-1950’s. Howard’s Beauty Salon was no longer listed in the city directory by 1952, and Janie left Wilmington soon after. 121 S. 13th Street is currently occupied by a member of the family.⁴

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2019

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 66; Green, 1948 Green Book, 63; 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. 1920 United States Census, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. "Janey Ennett" and “Lawrance Ennett,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Lawrence Ennett and Cornelia Wallace, December 24, 1912, New Hanover County, North Carolina, Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Cornellia Ennett, February 2, 1927, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Lawrence Ennett, January 27, 1929, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
3. Janie Ennett and Herbert Howard, September 26, 1928, New Hanover County, North Carolina, Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1930 United States Census, Masonboro, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. "Jamie M. Howard," accessed from www.ancestry.com; Herbert Elijah Howard, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1940 United States Census, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. "Janie Mae Howard," accessed from www.ancestry.com; Hill’s 1932 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 210; Hill’s 1934 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 203; Hill’s 1938 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory,  pp. 219, 220; Hill’s 1940 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 214; Hill’s 1942 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 329.
4. Hill’s 1947 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 165, street directory, p. 70; Hill’s 1948-49 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 158, classified directory, p. 541, street directory, p. 69; Hill’s 1952 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, city directory, p. 143, classified directory, p. 421, street directory, p. 17; Hill’s 1956 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 155; Herbert Elijah Howard, June 7, 1985, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina, Death Indexes, 1908-2004, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Deborah Dicks Maxwell, email correspondence to Lisa Withers (NC Green Book Project), May 11, 2019.