Afro Sheen Umbrella Company Owner dies at 89

Joan Johnson, co-founder of Johnson Products Company, has died at age 89.

Johnson and her husband George, started the company in 1954. The Johnson Products Company is iconic for products that were influential in black culture, such as “Ultra Sheen" and “Afro Sheen”.

She died Friday at the age of 89 in the company's founding hometown of Chicago, after battling a long illness.

With only a $250 investment she and her husband turned the Johnson Products Company into what is now a multi-million dollar company. This company became the first black-owned company to be traded on the American Stock Exchange (now the NYSE American).

She was truly a pioneer in America and in African-American history.