George E. Johnson Sr., founder of a pioneering Black hair care business,
dies at 99
[July 08, 2026] By
COREY WILLIAMS and AISHA I. JEFFERSON
CHICAGO (AP) — George E. Johnson Sr., a pioneer in Black hair care whose
multimillion-dollar business was the first Black-owned company to be
listed on the American Stock Exchange, has died at age 99, according to
his family.
Johnson died Monday at his home in downtown Chicago. A cause of death
was not released.
Johnson and his late wife and high school sweetheart, Joan, started
Johnson Products in 1954 on Chicago’s South Side after securing a $250
loan. It grew into a hair care empire catering almost exclusively to
Black people, with brands like Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen.
People who remember Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen in their heyday also
remember the brands’ marketing campaigns and their association with the
“Black is Beautiful” movement, which promoted cultural and racial pride
among Black people. The iconic 1970s commercials, which featured
variations of the “Watu Wazuri” (“Beautiful People”) jingle, have
enjoyed a resurgence on social media in recent years.
The commercials aired primarily during the hit music-and-dance
television show “Soul Train," which his company was a national sponsor
of and once owned.
“It was just a wonderful opportunity for Don Cornelius to be able to go
national. He wouldn’t have been able to do that without George Johnson’s
partnership,” Rogers said. “And so, to see it work out for everyone and
for our community all together was part of his genius.”
A legacy worth celebrating
During its annual gala in November, the Chicago Urban League celebrated
Johnson as the Edwin C. “Bill” Berry Civil Rights Award honoree, named
for the League’s iconic leader. Berry joined Johnson Products Company
when he left the organization, according to Karen Freeman-Wilson,
president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. She said the honor was a
full-circle moment for Johnson, who was a longtime board member.
"Just 12 or 14 days ago, he was standing with Barack Obama in the
presidential library, dedicating a room for he and my mother," Eric
George Johnson, the eldest of Johnson's four children, told The
Associated Press. “It's a wonderful life to celebrate.”
Johnson's trajectory started from humble beginnings.
He was born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi. Johnson’s mother, Priscilla
Dean Johnson, was just 18 when she left her husband, took her children
to Chicago and found a job at a local hospital, said Hilary Beard, a
Philadelphia-based author who worked with Johnson on his memoir.
Their move occurred during what’s known as the First Great Migration,
between 1910 and 1940, when tens of thousands of southern Black people
moved to northern and Midwestern cities for jobs and to escape racial
oppression.
“There was just enough money for food, clothing and shelter, but not for
anything extra,” Beard said.
Johnson and his older brother, John, would collect cigarette packages,
peel out the aluminum linings, roll them into balls and sell them to
people who collected junk for resale, Beard said. Johnson also shined
shoes, cleared tables in eateries and set up pins in a bowling alley.
A source of pride and inspiration
As an adult, Johnson worked for the Black-owned Fuller Products Co. in
Chicago. Beard said Johnson met a barber who was distraught because he
couldn't convince Fuller to back a product he was developing that
straightened men's hair. The drawback was the product burned the scalp.
[to top of second column] |
George E. Johnson Sr., who founded Johnson Products Company, is
photographed at his company on the South Side of Chicago, Jan. 8,
1973. (Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
 Johnson worked with Fuller's chemist
to revamp the barber's formula and started his business after
ultimately convincing a bank he needed a $250 loan to take his wife
on a vacation, Beard said. That business would become Johnson
Products.
Johnson's company offered above-market salaries, profit-sharing for
its workers, healthcare and other benefits at a time when many
companies didn’t provide such perks, Beard added. Johnson Products
was sold in 1993 to a pharmaceutical firm in a deal worth more than
$60 million.
Johnson later founded Independence Bank and became the first Black
person to serve on the board of directors of the Illinois electric
utility Commonwealth Edison. The George E. Johnson Educational Fund
awarded more than 1,000 college scholarships.
John W. Rogers, the founder of Chicago-based Ariel Investments,
remembers his father taking him to Independence Bank to open a
checking account and being awed that Johnson owned it.
“That was just so impressive to me that he would start the largest
Black bank in the country" which helped Black entrepreneurs,
homeowners and anyone who needed assistance as they were building
their lives, said Rogers, a mentee of Johnson.
The Golden Rule
Though Johnson is gone, the lessons he imparted continue to shape
the family’s future.
Eric Johnson, who served as CEO, left Johnson Products Company in
1992. He said he purchased Baldwin Ice Cream in 1997, intending to
keep the company in the family for generations to come. Eric Johnson
officially retired from Baldwin Richardson Foods on May 9 after
successfully transitioning ownership to his daughters, Erin Tolefree
and Cara Hughes.
“He saw his children come along and be successful, and now his
grandchildren being successful,” Eric Johnson said.
Eric Johnson isn't the only one who sees that legacy continuing.
Rogers points to the company’s third generation of leadership as
evidence.
“Eric’s positioned his kids who are now running the business
day-to-day. So it’s a third generation, which is remarkable. They’re
doing so well," Rogers said.
Johnson’s memoir, “Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with
the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street,” was published in
2024.
Being fair and treating people the way you want to be treated was
Johnson's golden rule, according to his son. And it's a cherished
piece of advice that Eric Johnson said his father instilled in him.
"And it’s a foundation that was established in him as a child by his
mother, that he established in all of us,” he said.
___
Williams reported from Detroit.
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