Bridie Freeman

An unseen force in shaping Savannah’s history was Madame Freeman, born in 1886 as Bridie Andres in Beaufort, South Carolina. She relocated to Savannah later in life and opened Madame Freeman’s Beauty School in 1919. The school opened with thousands of ladies that gathered from all over the Southeast to be part of the experience. Once they arrived, they rejoiced in having the once in a lifetime opportunity to become a “Freeman’s Girl”. This opportunity helped women find meaningful work and be treated respectfully while doing it. Many of the women being mothers themselves, found they could even better their children’s lives by attending the institution. In a not so traditional salon, students learned about more than just beauty, their manuals focused on biology, anatomy, which in turn prepared them for other life opportunities. Madame Freeman’s inspiration carried others to open their own beauty salons after the education they earned at the beauty school.

Freeman also found different ways to help others. When a local black man had been convicted of a crime, a crime that many tried to appeal to no avail, the case tugged at Freeman’s heart strings. Consequent, a collection of funds was started at Madame Freeman’s Beauty school, to provide assistance. Freeman’s passion for the African American working class lifted many out of poverty during the time the school was open. Her memory remains captive by those so prominently touched by Freeman’s efforts.

She married twice but never had children. Freeman went on to own a floral shop and a tea shop, even after losing her eyesight to diabetes. Her beauty school closed shortly after her death in 1957.

Sources: City of Savannah/Research Library and Municipal Archives; The Great Takeover, Women Who Move Us Series, Morgan Lawrence