Joan Johnson, The Queen of Afro Sheen, Dies at 89

AP – Joan Johnson, who helped create one of the nation’s largest black-owned companies, has died.

Johnson, 89, co-founded Johnson Products Company, the pioneering black hair care company which made iconic products such as Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen. She died Friday in Chicago after a long illness.

She started Johnson Products Company in Chicago in 1954 with her husband, George Johnson. They took a $250 investment and turned it into a multi-million dollar company which became the first black-owned company to be traded on the American Stock Exchange (now known as NYSE American).