Ella Jane Nesbitt

Title

Ella Jane Nesbitt

Description

Although Ella Jane Nesbitt was born in Asheville, NC, her roots are Greer. Ella and her sister came to live with their grandparents on Stokes Street in the house which their mother's sisters had bought for their parents. One of the aunts was a schoolteacher who taught at a rural black school. As was the custom, she lived with a family through the week and then came home to Greer on weekends.
When Ella was in junior high at Dunbar, an aunt in Washington, D.C. requested that Ella come live with her to assist her during a period of poor health. In Washington, Ella went to vocational school and studied cosmetology. In 1947, her daughter Norma Jean was born. But when Norma Jean was 3 months old, Ella returned to the family home on Stokes Street and began to fix hair. A SC licensed cosmetologist, she operated the Nesbitt Beauty Shop from 1947 until 2006 when she decided to retire and not renew her business license with the city of Greer.
Ella says that in the early day, people had their hair done mainly for special occasions. Line Huff fixed hair in her home in the same Sunnyside neighborhood. In Needmore, Helen Thompson, also a licensed cosmetologist, had a shop in the rear of the house where her sister owned the Thompson Funeral Home on Forest Street.
When Ella started, she fixed hair in the house until the family built her a room by enclosing the end of the porch for her shop. After a board inspector told her that she needed a restroom for her customers, she enlarged the shop by adding a room to the porch space. Then she had space for 2 chairs and a partner.
Ella says that she was happy working solo. One day Frances Miller, who lived across the street and worked at another shop in the neighborhood, asked if she could join Ella. Not wanting to make too quick a decision, Ella had to think about it. But Ella's cousin urged her to take Frances into the shop. "She'll make a good partner." Ella admits that although things weren't always perfect, they did indeed make good partners. "We got along fine. Some people moved from my chair to hers, but some of her people moved to my chair." They were partners for 50 years.
Customers came from Greer, Duncan, and Wellford. Some of her customers were Dunbar teachers. Mrs. Callahan, who lived across the street at the Callahan Funeral Home, was a first grade teacher who had Ella style her hair. Ella remembers Mrs. Vance, who also taught at Dunbar. "She lived with our family while teaching school. That was done then. Families kept the teachers. She had me do her hair."
Ella says, "Most women came for a wash, press, and curl." She can't remember the cost when she started, but thought that it was about 75 cents or maybe $1.00. She still has her pressing combs for straightening hair and the different size curling irons to put back some curl. The combs were placed into the box of a small electric heater. After gas was run to the house, she used a gas jet where she laid the pressing comb on top to heat very quickly. She then pulled the comb through the customer's hair away from the scalp to avoid burns. Ella's gas jet is a small appliance made decorative by placing the heating element on the top of a silver turtle's back.
When asked what she enjoyed most about her career, she says, "I enjoyed the job-- period. I enjoyed people and the work." In 1976, she was awarded the SC State Cosmetology "Woman of the Year." The plaque that hangs proudly in her shop says, "in recognition of your contribution, hard work, and unselfish endeavors." She is proud of this honor, but she is most proud of her girls: daughter Norma Jean Nesbitt Givens who earned a doctorate, a granddaughter who is also a teacher, and two great granddaughters.

birthday

August 24, 1921

Birthplace

Asheville, NC

Death Date

October 10, 2017

Occupation

South Carolina licensed cosmetologist