Mrs. Brown (Mrs. Brown Beauty Parlor)

Ethel Brown Harvey owned three beauty salons that were listed in the Green Book. Harvey advertised these salons as “The Harvey Beauty Salons.” Mrs. Brown’s Beauty Salon was listed in the Green Book from 1939-1941, 1947, and 1951-1955. It was listed as “Mrs. Brown--Person St.” under the “Beauty Parlors” category from 1939-1941 and 1947 and as “Brown’s---133 Person St.” under “Beauty Parlors” from 1951-1955. 133 Person Street also housed Deluxe Barber Shop (listed in the Green Book from 1939-1941 and 1947-1955 and owned by Henry H. Covington) and was demolished, along with 135 Person Street, in 2014. 

The buildings that housed Royal Beauty Parlor and Modiste Beauty Parlor are still standing, and these businesses are the primary subject of the essay that follows. Royal Beauty Parlor was listed in the Green Book from 1947-1955 and was listed as “Royal Beauty Parlor--127 ½ Person St.” under the “Beauty Parlor” section. Modiste Beauty Parlor was listed in the Green Book from 1951-1955 and was listed as “Modiste---130 ½ Person St.” under the “Beauty Parlor” section.¹

Ethel Brown opened a beauty salon at 133 Person Street in the mid-1930s. Originally referred to as “Ethel Brown’s” in the city directory, it would eventually be known simply as “Mrs. Browns.” It was the first of three successful beauty parlors -- Brown’s was joined by Royal, located at 127 1⁄2 Person Street, around 1941, and by Modiste, located at 130 ½ Person Street, around 1948. In 1949, Mrs. Ethel Brown Harvey, now married to Fort Bragg soldier James “Jim” Harvey, began using a new name for her salons - “The Harvey Beauty Salons.” She announced the new name and business concept - three salons, “The Brown,” “The Royale,” and “The Modiste,”  “All on Person St.,” - in an advertisement in The Carolinian on April 30, 1949. Her motto was “We can serve you promptly.”² 

Ethel Brown Harvey was a vital member of the local beautician community. In 1959, she was nominated for a state-wide beautician contest held by The Carolina Times. She also held a two-day beauty culture workshop in 1954, bringing in a famous stylist from New York City to teach local beauticians and providing opportunities for beauticians working in Fayetteville to socialize with one another, such as a fashion show and a concert.³

Modiste closed in the mid-1950s, but Royal and Brown’s were still in operation as late as 1969. The space once home to Modiste is now a shoe shop and 125-127 Person Street, which at one time included Royal, is now a sports bar and lounge. The building that housed Brown’s first salon at 133 Person Street, which was open during the majority of the Green Book’s 30-year publication run, was demolished in 2014.⁴

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2019

Oral History

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1939 Green Book, 32; Green, 1940 Green Book, 35; Green, 1941 Green Book, 35; Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 64; Green, 1948 Green Book, 62; Green, 1949 Green Book, 56; Green, 1950 Green Book, 62; Green, 1951 Green Book, 53; Green, 1952 Green Book, 53; Green, 1953 Green Book, 53; Green, 1954 Green Book, 53; Green, 1955 Green Book, 53; Andrew Barksdale, “Historic Fayetteville buildings scheduled to be razed,” The Fayetteville Observer, July 7, 2014, accessed from www.fayobserver.com; “133-135 Person Street: Land for Sale,” accessed from www.loopnet.com; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) 1937 City Directory (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Company), alphabetical listing, p. 361. Advertisements for Royal use the spelling “Royal” and “Royale;” the spelling used in the Green Book is used throughout this essay.
2.  Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1937 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), classified directory p. 362, alphabetical listing p. 49; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1939  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), classified directory, p. 364, alphabetical listing, p. 53; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1941 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), classified directory, p. 560, alphabetical listing pp. 74, 392; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1943 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), classified directory, p. 611, alphabetical listing, pp. 208, 401; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1946  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing pp. 199, 376, classified directory p. 588; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1948-49  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing, p. 79, classified directory pp. 650-651; Jim Harvey, December 20, 1970, Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Announcing The Harvey Beauty Salons,” The Carolinian (Fayetteville, NC), April 30, 1949, p. 4, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn80008926/1949-04-30/ed-1/seq-12/…;
    
3. Big Prizes to be Given to N.C. Beauticians,” The Carolina Times (Durham, NC), September 12, 1959, p. 1, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn83045120/1959-09-12/ed-1/seq-1/; “Beauty Culture Workshop Slated at Fayetteville,” The Carolina Times (Durham, NC), May 15, 1954, p. 3, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn80008926/1954-05-15/ed-1/seq-3/.
4. Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1951  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing, p. 64, street directory p. 15; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1953  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing p. 328, street directory p. 396; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1954-1955  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), street directory p. 286, alphabetical listing p. 238; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1956  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing pp. 51, 173, 348, classified directory p. 11; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, NC) City Directory, 1961, classified directory, p 235, alphabetical listing p. 169; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1969  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), classified directory, p. 169; Listing for “Service Shoe Shop,” Fayetteville, NC, accessed from www.yellowpages.com; “Cool Spring Downtown District,” Fayetteville, NC, accessed from https://visitdowntownfayetteville.com/;  “Historic Fayetteville buildings scheduled to be razed,” The Fayetteville Observer, July 7, 2014, accessed from https://www.fayobserver.com/article/20140707/news/307079732; “133-135 Person Street: Land for Sale,” accessed from https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19164060/133-135-PERSON-STREET-Fayettev….

Did you know?

• This Green Book entry was listed two different ways between 1939-1955: 
  • 1939-1941, 1947: Listed as “Mrs. Brown--Person St.” under the “Beauty Parlors” category in Fayetteville. Listing did not include a street number.
  • 1951-1955: Listed as “Brown’s---133 Person St.” under “Beauty Parlors” in Fayetteville.