Christine Moore Howell (March 19, 1899 – December 13, 1972) was a hair care product businesswoman who founded Christine Cosmetics where she formulated her own line of cosmetics and hair care products. She was the head of the New Jersey Board of Beauty Culture Control. She was the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

to graduate from Princeton High School.

Biography

She was born on March 19, 1899, as Christine Moore in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, to William Moore Sr. (1863-1920) and Adelaide Williams, both from

Hillsboro, North Carolina The town of Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina, United States and is located along the Eno River. The population was 6,087 in 2010, but it grew rapidly to 9,660 by 2020. Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hillsb ...

. Her siblings were Bessie Moore, Arthur C. Moore, and William Moore Jr. Her father migrated from Hillsboro, North Carolina, to Princeton, New Jersey, where he opened a shop buying and selling used clothes and furniture to the university students. She attended Princeton High School, where she was the first African-American to graduate. She opened a beauty shop in one of the buildings that William now owned. She studied chemistry in Paris and when she returned she formulated a line of cosmetics. In 1924 she married Dr. Edward Gaylord Howell of

Darien, Connecticut Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under 13 square miles, it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast. It has the youngest population of any ...

. In 1935 Harold Giles Hoffman, the

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

appointed her to the newly formed New Jersey Board of Beauty Culture Control, where she became chairman. She died on December 13, 1972 and was interred in

Princeton Cemetery Princeton Cemetery is located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the Nassau Presbyterian Church. John F. Hageman in his 1878 history of Princeton, New Jersey refers to the cemetery as "The Westminster Abbey of the United Stat ...

Publications

Beauty Culture and Care of the Hair
(1936)

References

External links

Christine Moore Howell letter
at the W. E. B. Du Bois archive. {{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Christine Moore 1899 births 1972 deaths African-American businesspeople American cosmetics businesspeople Burials at Princeton Cemetery Businesspeople from New Jersey People from Princeton, New Jersey People from New Brunswick, New Jersey Princeton High School (New Jersey) alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people

Biography

Publications

See also

References

External links