Midgett's

Midgett’s Beauty Salon was listed in the Green Book as “Midgett’s—212 Clark St.” under “Beauty Parlors” in Greenville from 1947-1951. The business’s address changed over time and eventually expanded to two locations. The business was only documented to be at 212 Clark Street in 1946.¹

Midgett’s Beauty Salon (also “Midgette’s”) first opened in Greenville between 1938 and 1940. The business was originally located at 304 Albemarle Avenue and expanded to a second location at 1121 Clark Street by 1942. The street numbers given for each location changed over time. (The Albemarle Avenue location changed to 307 Albemarle in 1946 then to 310 Albemarle in 1947; the Clark Street location changed to 212 Clark Street in 1946 and to 1125 Clark Street in 1947. It is not clear whether the business actually changed locations or the streets were renumbered.) The Albemarle Avenue salon was located in “The Block,” a historical African American business district in what is now Uptown Greenville. Both locations closed around 1950.²

The salon was owned by Lucinda Barnes Midgett. Lucinda was raised in Farmville and Beaver Dam, both in Pitt County, and moved to Greenville following her marriage to Arthur Midgett in 1933. Arthur operated a barber shop; Lucinda managed the Midgett beauty salons until around 1950, when she was enumerated as operating a cafe. She was not listed with an occupation in the 1951 city directory.³

Arthur and Lucinda Midgett later moved to Richmond, Virginia. Lucinda died there in 2001.⁴

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 65; Green, 1948 Green Book, 62; Green, 1949 Green Book, 56; Green, 1950 Green Book, 62; Green, 1951 Green Book, 53; “Midgetts Beauty Shop” (ad), The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), September 7, 1946, 6 (digital image 14), accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org.
2. Miller’s 1940-1941 City Directory, 211 (alphabetical listing); Miller’s 1942 Greenville City Directory, 216 (alphabetical listing), 316 (street listing); Miller’s 1944-1945 Greenville City Directory, 218 (alphabetical listing), 324 (street listing); “Midgetts Beauty Shop” (ad), The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), September 7, 1946, 6 (digital image 14), accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org; The Pitt-Greenville Convention & Visitors Authority, “African American Cultural Trail of Greenville-Pitt County,” Greenville, North Carolina, https://www.visitgreenvillenc.com/african-american-cultural-trail/; Miller’s 1947-1948 Greenville City Directory, 214 (alphabetical listing, street listing, 326); Miller’s 1951-1952 Greenville City Directory. 
3. Miller’s 1951-1952 Greenville City Directory (236, street listing); 1920 United States Federal Census, Farmville, Pitt County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Lucindy Barnes,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1930 United States Federal Census, Beaver Dam, Pitt County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Lucinda Barns,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Lucinda Barnes and Auther Midgett, January 19, 1933, Pitt County, North Carolina, US Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1940 United States Federal Census, Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Lucenda Midgett,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1950 United States Federal Census, Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Lucinda B. Midgett,” accessed from www.ancestry.com. 
4.  1950 United States Federal Census, Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Lucinda B. Midgett,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Arthur Midgette, July 27, 1975, Richmond, Virginia, US Death Records, 1912-2014, accessed from www.ancestry.com.