Sartor, Henrietta Clark (Mrs. William)
9/21/1985
| Henrietta Clark Sartor was born on July 6, 1904 in Lake Charles to Caroline and Nathan Clark. Every person must have his own vision of things to come, but many Americans like Henrietta Sartor practice the concept that if we fail to dare, if we do not try, the next generation will harvest the fruit of our indifference; a world we did not want, but a world we could have made better. Henrietta was a free spirit who made things happen no matter who said it could not be done. In 1934, Henrietta Sartor opened the first Louisiana State Accredited Modern School of Beauty Culture for blacks in Louisiana. Mrs. Sartor was highly regarded expert in the field of beauty culture. She was a graduate of the Burnham School of Beauty Culture in Chicago. In a class of 85 she finished with an average of 95% in technical subjects related to beauty culture. There were only two blacks in the class. Mrs. Sartors beauty school grew rapidly. She had an average of 300 weekly clients and more 1,000 persons have graduated from her school. In recognition of her superior knowledge of beauty culture, Mrs. Sartor has served as the educational advisor for the Shreveport Chapter of the Master Beautician’s Local Chapter. She was the first black to teach beauty culture at the Milam Street Training School in Shreveport. She brought professionalism to the beauty culture field for blacks in Louisiana and has been recognized as one of the pioneers in the area of beauty culture in America. Her tradition of striving for excellence is being carried on today in the school in which she started in 1934 by two of her students, Mrs. Elgin Hill and Mrs. Roberta Minor, who bought the business from Mrs. Sartor when she decided to retire. It is known today in Shreveport as the R. and E. House of Beauty. Next to her love for beauty culture was her love for the Methodist Church. She was the niece of the late Rev. T. B. Orville, who served as the superintendent of the Shreveport District. On October 9, 1939, Henritta Clark became the wife of Rev. William Sartor who served as a Military Chaplain and also served as the pastor of St. James Methodist Church in Shreveport. After retiring from Caddo Parish as a teacher, she moved to California. She returned to Shreveport in 1979 and reunited with St. James United Methodist Church where she served as a faithful member until her death on August 21, 1985. Her funeral service was held at the J. S. Williams funeral home in Shreveport on August 24, 1985. She leaves to mourn more than one generation of people she trained in the beauty culture field, several children whom she raised as her own and a host of friends of this pioneer black business woman who was known until her death for her free spirit and ability to make things happen that many people believed could not take place, but Henrietta Clark Sartor dared to try and then she succeeded. |
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| Source: Journal Louisiana Conference, 1986; p.285-286 By James A. Graham | |
