Elise Jones Martin, who was active in business and volunteer work, passed away at the age of 108.

This week, Martin passed away in California, where she had most recently been residing.

She was born in Hartsville, went to New Jersey to study cosmetology, returned to South Carolina, and settled in Columbia.

Martin, whose biography can be found in the South Carolina African American History Calendar, originally established Elise Beauty Shop on Washington Street, which was referred to as Columbia’s “Black Wall Street.”

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She was the first Black woman to operate a company on Main Street in the city, and over the course of 62 years, she ran a number of companies there.

She participated in charitable work for several organizations, held office on the Columbia Zoning Board, and belonged to the Midlands chapter of Keep America Beautiful. Martin, a devoted Christian and a leader at Bethel A.M.E.

In addition, Martin spent 27 years instructing cosmetology at Booker T. Washington High School.

She oversaw her polling precinct and worked as a poll worker for more than 30 years in addition to her other responsibilities.

Given that she had grown up in the Jim Crow South and had to overcome obstacles just to be permitted to vote, it held a special meaning for her. She described having to take a literacy test when she was younger in a 2020 feature on her by News19.

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