Susan Davis Grant was born and raised in Georgetown. As an African American woman growing up in the segregated South during the 1950s, she was taught early on in life that her place in society was beneath that of white Americans.
Listen to Susan Grant tell a story of racism in her childhood. This was a sentiment she would set out to challenge. Yet she had to contend with not only perceptions of and prejudices against her skin color; as a woman, she encountered a society resistant to women in the workforce in careers traditionally held by men.
After she graduated high school, Grant moved to New York and decided to become a barber to supplement the income she made working for a life insurance company. She found a barbering school and enrolled, but the school insisted it could not guarantee finding employment for a woman. Grant responded, “Well, I’ll find a job.” And so she did, after passing her barbering exam with a near-perfect score. An instant success among her customers—even though men were originally reluctant to have their hair cut by a woman—she ended up buying the shop from her employer. After fourteen years as a barber, she sold the shop and moved back to Georgetown following a divorce.
Life in a Steel Mill
Susan Grant's Story