Gilbert C. Harris (? - 1921) was a wig maker in Boston, Massachusetts. He moved to Boston from Virginia.[1] He served as treasurer of the National Negro Business League.[2] He supplied wigs to theater companies including via a mail order business.[3] Henry Wilson Savage was among his clients.[4] Charlotte Cushman and Henry Irving were among his clients.[5]

He was born in Petersburg, Virginia.[5] He moved from Virginia to Boston in 1892.[4] He co-founded an Odd Fellows Lodge.[3] He acquired and continued to operate Frenchman M. Alphonse Gilbert's Gilbert & Co. wig business at 732 Washington Street.[5]

A 1918 book documented him as being "mulatto".[6]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "A noble history". The Bay State Banner. February 14, 2012.
  2. ^ "Negro Year Book and Annual Encyclopedia of the Negro". Monroe N. Work. November 18, 1922 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b History, Black Entrepreneur (November 9, 2022). "Gilbert C. Harris - African American Wig Manufacturer".
  4. ^ a b Daniels, John (November 18, 1914). "In Freedom's Birthplace: A Study of the Boston Negroes. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1914". Johnson Reprint Corporation – via Google Books.
  5. ^ a b c N.Y.), Mercantile Illustrating Company (New York (November 18, 1894). "Boston with Its Points of Interest: With Illustrations from Original Photographs". Mercantile Illustrating Company – via Google Books.
  6. ^ The Mulatto in the United States. Ardent Media.