A00247 - The Cardozo Sisters, Proprietors of Successful Washington D. C. Hair Salons

 

In my last Memorial List post, I mentioned that Harold Over Lewis, Amherst College Class of 1929, was married to Catherine Cardozo Lewis, one of the three Cardozo sisters who operated a very successful hair care business in Washington, D. C. for 50 years.  In the years between 1976 and 1981, Harvard University sponsored an Oral History Project which interviewed prominent African American women over the age of 70.  The transcripts are described as follows: 

Transcripts from the Schlesinger Library's oral history project which documented the contributions of black women 70 years or older to American life. Interviews document the lives, professional careers, and voluntary activities of women nationwide and focus on their contributions in a wide variety of fields including medicine, law, business, the arts, social work, education, politics, and civil rights. Interviews include Christia Adair, Frances Albrier, Sadie Alexander, Elizabeth Cardozo Barker, Etta Moten Barnett, May Edward Chinn, Alfreda Duster, Mae Eberhardt, Lena Edwards, Zelma George, Frances Grant, Ardie Halyard, Pleasant Harrison, Anna Arnold Hedgeman, Dorothy Height, Margaret Cardozo Holmes, Lois Mailou Jones, Virginia Jones, Maida Kemp, Catherine Cardozo Lewis, Audley Moore, Muriel Snowden, Olivia Stokes, Ann Tanneyhill, Constance Thomas, Era Bell Thompson, Charleszett Waddles, Dorothy West and Deborah Wofe

and the actual transcripts can be found at 

Biographies - Black Women Oral History Project Interviews, 1976–1981 - Research Guides at Harvard Library

What is rather interesting is that amongst these distinguished African American women, all three Cardozo sisters (Elizabeth Cardozo Barker, Margaret Cardozo Holmes, and Catherine Cardozo Lewis) were interviewed.  I encourage you all to read the transcripts for yourself.  And I also encourage you to note that one of the keys to the economic success of the Cardozo sisters appears to have been their ability to pass for white.

The ability to pass for white has been an ongoing theme in America which be discussed in a future post.  However, for now I leave you with the stories of the Cardozo sisters and ask you to ponder what their stories say ... and mean.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

Class of 1975

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Elizabeth Cardozo Barker

As a child, Elizabeth Cardozo Barker spent her summers playing and working in and around the beauty shop run by her grandmother, Emma Jones Warrick, in Atlantic City, N.J. The founder of Cardozo Sisters Hairstylists in Washington, D.C., in 1928, Mrs. Barker was assisted in the business by two sisters, Margaret Cardozo Holmes and Catherine Cardozo Lewis (both BWOHP interviewees). The firm was influential in the growth of the Black beauty industry in the city, providing their employees with first-rate training and optimum conditions for career advancement. As a member of the Board of Cosmetology, Mrs. Barker saw to it that all beauty and barber shops were required to serve customers of all races; she was also largely responsible for the integratlon of beauty schools in the area and for the improvement of operator education, insisting that certificates be granted for various levels of expertise.

 

Margaret Cardozo Holmes

Margaret Cardozo Holmes has contributed her artistic talent and scientific curiosity to the development of Cardozo Sisters Hairstylists, founded by her sister, Elizabeth Cardozo Barker, in 1928. She first learned about working with hair as a child in her grandmother's prosperous beauty shop in Atlantic City and was influenced by her aunt, the noted sculptress, Meta Warrick Fuller, who wished to adopt her and train her as an artist. In becoming a hair stylist she found an outlet for her talents. With her knowledge of the chemistry of hair, she has helped manufacturers develop new products for relaxing hair. She worked with her sisters to make Cardozo Sisters one of the most successful beauty shops in Washington, D.C., known for its ability to care for and style all types of hair. Her high standards for the employees raised the shop to a professional level unusual for the industry in the 1930s. In charge of personnel for the shop, she offered rehabilitation, training, and jobs for Black women who could not take full-time jobs. Mrs. Holmes is married to Eugene Clay Holmes, who was a professor of philosophy at Howard University.

Catherine Cardozo Lewis

Catherine Cardozo Lewis contributed her organizational talents and business skills to Cardozo Sisters Hairstylists, founded by her sister Elizabeth Cardozo Barker in 1928. The youngest child of Francis L. and Blanche Warrick Cardozo, Catherine attended a convent school in Philadelphia and Spelman Seminary before graduating from Dunbar High School. While attending Hunter College, she married Harold O. Lewis and soon transferred to Pratt Institute to study dressmaking. After her husband's graduation from college, the couple moved to Washington, where Mrs. Lewis worked in the Census Bureau until she became ill. She returned to work first as a volunteer secretary to the local Rochdale Co-op and the Garfield Heights Citizens' Association. She then worked at the Co-op as a paid employee, earning bookkeeping. In 1949 she joined Cardozo Sisters, serving as general manager until her retirement in 1965. She has continued to assist her husband, a member of the history department at Howard University, with his research on Black seamen.

 

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Elizabeth Cardozo Barker
Born	1900 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died	November 24, 1981 (aged 80) Hyannis, Massachusetts

Elizabeth Cardozo Barker (1900 – 1981) was the founder of Cardozo Sisters Hairstylists in Washington, D.C.^[1][2] She was also a president of the D.C. Cosmetology Board.^[3]

Biography

[edit]

Elizabeth Cardozo Barker was born in Washington, D.C., where she lived until she retired in 1970.^[3] She was interviewed for the Black Women Oral History Project along with both of her sisters, Margaret Cardozo Holmes and Catherine Cardozo Lewis. In 1928, she founded, and the three of them later ran together, Cardozo Sisters Hairstylists.^[2][4] Barker worked as a typist at Howard University and as a manager of the Washington, D.C. branch of Liberty Life Insurance Company of Chicago. Barker originally started the salon in her upstairs apartment but it later grew to have five storefront locations in Washington, D.C.^[4][5] Barker and her sister Margaret Cardozo Holmes would attend white trade shows to learn new techniques and find new products for their business. Jim Crow laws would normally prevent their entrance to these shows but the sisters "passed for white".^[4] The sisters sold the business after 50 years in 1978. Elizabeth Cardozo Barker was appointed to the D.C. cosmetology board in 1963 and was made president in 1967. She was also a member of the board of directors for the Small Business Development Center.^[3][4] Through this role and her successful business, she fought for desegregation and the end of discriminatory practices in this field.^[4][5] She retired in Osterville, Massachusetts in 1970. Her second husband, Beltran Barker, died in 1979. She died of a heart attack in 1981 at Cape Cod Community Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts.^[3]

References

[edit]

1. ^ "Elizabeth Cardozo Barker. Transcript". HOLLIS for Archival Discovery. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
2. ^ Jump up to:^a b "Black Women Oral History Project Interviews, 1976–1981: Biographies". Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America research Guides. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
3. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d "Elizabeth Cardozo Barker Dies". Washington Post. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
4. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e} Smith, Jessie (2017). Encyclopedia of African American Business: Updated and Revised Edition (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. pp. 157–161. ISBN 978-1440850288. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
5. ^ Jump up to:^a b Cultural Tourism DC. "Along the "Nile Valley"". Lift Every Voice: Georgia Ave./Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail: 13. Retrieved 7 May 2020.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: skipjen2865@aol.com <skipjen2865@aol.com>

To: Penny Hirata <pennyhirata@gmail.com>; Kevin Hirata <kevhirata@gmail.com>

Sent: Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 02:31:53 AM PDT

Subject: Harold Over Lewis (Amherst College Class of 1929), Dunbar High School Graduate, Longtime (50 Years) Howard University History Professor and Husband of Catherine Cardozo Lewis

The next name on my Memorial List is Clarence Reed White, Amherst College Class of 1928.  However, the only information I have for Clarence White is that he graduated from Dunbar High School and graduated from Amherst College.  The rest is a mystery.  If anyone has any information for Clarence Reed White, please send it to me so that I can add it to my files and give him the recognition that he is cue.

Lacking any detailed information on Clarence Reed White, I will proceed to the next name on my list, Harold Over Lewis, Amherst College Class of 1929. Harold Over Lewis also graduated from Dunbar High School and Amherst College.  After Amherst, Harold obtained a masters degree from Howard University in 1930 in history and a doctorate degree in history from American University in 1953.  The most notable aspect of his career was that he taught history at Howard for almost 50 years and today has a scholarship that is offered in his name.  Below is a newspaper article that provides some of the highlights of his career and of his life.

Harold Lewis appears to be related to Dr. Charles W. Lewis, Amherst College Class of 1923.  It appears that they were brothers.  However, a more notable family connection is with his wife, Catherine Cardozo Lewis, one of the three Cardozo sisters who ran a highly successful hair care business in Washington, D. C. for 50 years.  You can read her short bio below.  However, there is much more about her that will be the subject of a future post ... because the story of the Cardozo sisters is one of the most remarkable stories in American history. 

Stay tuned.

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

Class of 1975

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Harold Lewis Saw History And Taught It

By BETTY PARRY

June 7, 1983 at 8:00 p.m. EDT

Harold O. Lewis taught at Howard University for nearly half a century, specializing in modern European history, but he is in many ways a first-hand expert on District of Columbia history as well.

Born 75 years ago in Garfield Heights, a then-rural Southeast community set on a series of ridges south of Anacostia, Lewis grew up with a front row seat to many of the century's dramatic and historic events in the nation's capital.

His recollections and observations on District history were taped, along with those of another distinguished city resident Dr. W. Montague Cobb, for the television documentary "Step by Step," that will be shown tonight at 9 on WETA-Channel 26.

He stood on the sidelines in 1925 when Ku Klux Klansmen paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Among them, Lewis said, was a man he later recognized as an Amherst janitor when he enrolled in the Massachusetts college as a scholarship student.

In 1963, when the Mall was "teeming with people from the Memorial to the Monument," for Martin Luther King's March on Washington, he recalled, "I heard that people planned to get out of town because they were afraid; I didn't see one scowl. It restores your faith in human nature."

"I do not think that the later generations had any monopoly on race consciousness," said Lewis.

His early lessons in race pride and civic consciousness came, he said, from his parents, William H. and Mary V. Lewis, both Washingtonians, who were community activists and founding members of the Garfield Heights Civic Association. His father entered government service in 1898 and attended Howard University Law School at night.

Lewis' mother, a schoolteacher here around the turn of the century, was honored in 1955 by the Garfield-Douglas Heights community as an "exemplary pioneer spirit" whose "continuing contributions made our community a better place to live."

As a student in the Dunbar High School Cadet Corps, Lewis witnessed the shooting of a fellow cadet by a white man who had driven in front of their marching column. When the cadets protested, the man shot and wounded one of them. Lewis said he testified against the man in court, but the man was acquitted.

His parents counseled " 'Don't let these experiences distort your attitude toward life,' " he said, and that sustained him over the years despite what he said were incidents of "brutality and indignity."

He began teaching at Howard in 1930 and found it a "sanctuary," where "we didn't feel discrimination the way poorer, less educated people did."

"Howard in those years had a tremendously accomplished faculty" including Ralph Bunche, E. Franklin Frazier, Alain Locke and Sterling Brown, Lewis said. "Fauclty members did not remain aloof from the community, but took positions of leadership on social issues."

He recalled that in 1935 they organized a national conference critical of the New Deal, particularly its treatment of sharecroppers.

That same year faculty members protested the absence of the issue of lynching from the J. Edgar Hoover-sponsored International Conference on Crime. About 75 persons, including Howard professors and students along with NAACP leader Roy Wilkins, stood across the street from the 17th Street conference site, some wearing nooses around their necks.

Lewis has lectured on the Nazi concentration camps and written about the cooperative movement in Scandinavia, European political parties and the postwar German constitution.

Now retired, he continues his scholarly work, particularly of blacks in American history. He recently wrote a profile of 18th century Back-to-Africa advocate Paul Cuffe, a New Bedford whaling captain, for the recently published Dictionary of American Negro Biography.

Lewis has been married for 55 years to the former Katherine Cardozo. They have one son.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Catherine Cardozo Lewis

Catherine Cardozo Lewis contributed her organizational talents and business skills to Cardozo Sisters Hairstylists, founded by her sister Elizabeth Cardozo Barker in 1928. The youngest child of Francis L. and Blanche Warrick Cardozo, Catherine attended a convent school in Philadelphia and Spelman Seminary before graduating from Dunbar High School. While attending Hunter College, she married Harold O. Lewis and soon transferred to Pratt Institute to study dressmaking. After her husband's graduation from college, the couple moved to Washington, where Mrs. Lewis worked in the Census Bureau until she became ill. She returned to work first as a volunteer secretary to the local Rochdale Co-op and the Garfield Heights Citizens' Association. She then worked at the Co-op as a paid employee, earning bookkeeping. In 1949 she joined Cardozo Sisters, serving as general manager until her retirement in 1965. She has continued to assist her husband, a member of the history department at Howard University, with his research on Black seamen.