Sarah Breedlove
Born on December 23, 1867, Sarah Breedlove was the first person in her family born after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, freeing slaves in the Confederate states. Sarah was born on a Louisianan plantation that had previously enslaved both of her parents and older siblings.
Sarah Breedlove. Source: Pinterest
Sarah’s mother, Minerva, died when she was six years old. While the official diagnosis is unknown, historians believe she died from cholera, which was a widespread infection that killed tens of millions of people. Her father, Owen, remarried but died a year later from unknown causes. This left Sarah, an orphan at just seven years old. After her parents’ death, Sarah was sent to live in Mississippi with her sister Louvinia and her brother-in-law.