Ruth's Beauty Parlor

National Register Listing

Street Address:

1221 Pine St., Columbia, SC (Richland County)

Alternate Name:

Collins House

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NRHP Nomination

NRHP Maps

Record Number:

S10817740176

Description and Narrative:

Ruth’s Beauty Parlor is a two-and-one half story Queen Anne style house in Columbia that is significant as an intact and representative example of a Jim Crow-era African American beauty parlor. Built from 1909 to 1910, the home at 1221 Pine Street was used by Ruth Collins Perry as a beauty parlor from the late 1930s to 1943, serving African American residents of the surrounding Waverly neighborhood as well as the city’s broader Black community. Beauty shops like Ruth’s Beauty Parlor fostered Black beauty culture, which developed as a cultural expression for African American women who were excluded and degraded by racialized white beauty standards. They also often served as safe havens for Black women engaged in social and political activism against segregation. The property at 1221 Pine was previously listed in the National Register in 1989 as a contributor to the Waverly Historic District. Listed individually in the National Register October 5, 2020.

Period of Significance:

1939 – 1943

Level of Significance:

Local

Area of Significance:

Ethnic Heritage: Black;Social History

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

October 5 2020

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