[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20605]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO AMY SURGINER LIGON NORTHROP

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                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 15, 2005

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Amy Surginer Ligon 
Northrop on the occasion of her 100th birthday. Born September 28, 1905 
in Dixiana, South Carolina, Mrs. Northrop became a successful 
entrepreneur, owning several businesses, including a thriving beauty 
shop and a laundromat in Columbia, South Carolina.
  Mrs. Northrop, a pioneer among African American businesswomen, 
attended grade school in Dixiana and St. Ann Episcopal School in Cayce, 
South Carolina. She received her bachelor's degree from Allen 
University in Columbia, South Carolina, where she later established a 
scholarship named after her and her late husband, John. With a 
boundless thirst for knowledge, she furthered her education at 
Tennessee State University, South Carolina State University, Almanella 
School of Beauty Culture, and the Manhattan Trade School in New York.
  Broadening her knowledge of life and mankind through travel, Mrs. 
Northrop was at various times, a resident of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 
and New York. With her foresight and vision, she opened a beauty shop 
in Brooklyn, New York. She relocated to South Carolina in 1935 and 
opened Amy's Beauty Shop. In 1936, she became a member of the South 
Carolina State Cosmetology Association and the first clinic for the 
association was held at her business. When the Columbia Citywide 
Cosmetology Association was organized in 1938, Mrs. Northrop became one 
of the charter members.
  In 1941, she successfully negotiated affiliation with the National 
Beauty Culturists League for the Columbia association. She became a 
state organizer at a national beauticians' convention and organized 
beauticians throughout the State. Her interest in cosmetology led to 
extensive travel throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
  Mrs. Northrop has received numerous certificates and awards for her 
outstanding contributions to the field of cosmetology. In 1945, she 
received the great honor of being the first African American state 
inspector of beauty shops in South Carolina. A tireless civic leader, 
Mrs. Northrop founded Gamma Epsilon, a chapter of the Alpha Chi Pi Mega 
Sorority, whose first members were beauticians from Charleston, Sumter, 
Kingstree, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
  As an entrepreneur, she was successful in securing the purchase of 
property on Clark Street in Columbia as a headquarters for the city's 
beauticians' association. She later helped to secure the land on 
Fontaine Road where the State Cosmetology Headquarters, the Margarette 
H. Miller Cosmetology Center, now stands.
  Mrs. Northrop is a life member of Mt. Pisgah African Methodist 
Episcopal Church in Dixiana, South Carolina, where she organized the 
Youth Church, the Pull Together Club, the National Council of Negro 
Women, and the NAACP. In 1997, she relocated to the Washington, DC area 
to live with her niece and nephew, Rose and Edgar Crook, and worships 
with them at Shiloh Baptist Church. She continues to maintain strong 
ties to South Carolina, however, and visits as often as she can.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in saluting 
Mrs. Amy Surginer Ligon, one of South Carolina's and America's finest 
citizens, as she celebrates her 100th birthday.

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