Photograph. Christine Moore Howell and her sister, Bessie, in front of "Christine" Vanity Parlor

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Joy Play Innovator Innovation Resilience Enterprising Beauty Hair Relationship and Community Building Culture Opportunity Business Owner Creativity Inclusion Growth Healing Cultural Resourcefulness Woman Owned Class Mobility
Title
Photograph. Christine Moore Howell and her sister, Bessie, in front of "Christine" Vanity Parlor
Description
This photograph is of sisters Christine Moore Howell and Bessie Moore in front of “Christine” Vanity Parlors in Princeton, New Jersey around the 1920s when the vanity parlor opened. They would have been around the ages of 22 and 23 respectively at this time.
Christine and Bessie, as well as their older brother Arthur C., were born to William and Mary (née Williams) Moore of North Carolina (Ancestry.com 2004). Bessie Moore (June 2, 1897-October 25, 1922) was a schoolteacher until she died at the young age of 25 years old due to illness (Ancestry.com 2014).

Christine Moore Howell (March 19, 1898-December 13, 1972) was born and raised in Princeton, NJ and lived 48 years of her life there (The Central New Jersey Home News 1972). She was incredibly involved in the Princeton community– specifically that of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, NAACP, and Urban League (The Central New Jersey Home News 1972). She attended Princeton High School where she was one of the first African-Americans to graduate, pursued higher education in France studying chemistry in 1932-1933, and then returned to New Jersey (Smith 2015, p. 77). It was said that “Howell provided glamour and was glamorous herself” (Smith 2015, p. 77). She ran Christine’s Beauty Salon or “‘Christine’ Vanity Parlors” as the photo indicates, and also was the successful founder and president of Christine’s Cosmetics, founded in 1935 (The Central Jersey Home News 1972). Howell was a NJ state commissioner on the Board of Beauty Culture Control from 1935-1949 (The Central New Jersey Home News 1972). This photograph was likely taken outside of 10 Spring Street in Princeton (Satterfield and Historical Society of Princeton, n.d.). Her father owned the shops at 4, 6, and 10 Spring Street (Satterfield and Historical Society of Princeton, n.d.).
Check out a “Questionnaire for the Magazine Ebony” from Fall 1948 filled out by Christine Moore Howell in the Black Joy & Resilience collection
Map to 10 Spring Street, Princeton, NJ
Rights
This work is believed to be in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States. For more information, see http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/
Creator
Unknown
Date
c. 1920's
Format
Image
Spatial Coverage
Princeton, NJ
Contributor
Historical Society of Princeton
Extent
1 image
Identifier
MS 899
Subject
Beauty culture
Hairdressing
African American women.
Hairstyling
Sisters
Cosmetology
Women entrepreneurs
Princeton, New Jersey.
Media
Christine Moore Howell and her sister, Bessie.jpg