Martha Matilda Harper documentary to premiere in Rochester

After nearly 135 years, Martha Matilda Harper, creator of modern franchising and inventor of the reclining shampoo chair, returns home in a newly released documentary The Marvelous Martha, which will premiere on June 21 at 7 p.m. at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, where Harper’s retrieved artifacts are preserved. Tickets are $5 and are available at www.rmsc.org/marvelousmartha. 

The documentary brings to life Harper’s struggle as an endured servant girl of seven, her life as a servant for 25 years, and then her critical decision to immigrate to Rochester to change that fate. Using historic photos, recreation of the voices of Harper, her family, her dedicated Harperites, and Harper’s contemporaries, including suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony, attorney John Van Voorhis, Black millionaire Madame C. J Walker, dedicated Harper franchise owners, and socialite Bertha Palmer who insisted Harper expand her business, the viewer intimately relates to Harper’s determination, principles, supporters, and dreams. 

At the event, Jane Plitt, Harper’s biographer who spent six years crisscrossing the U. S. and Canada piecing together Harper’s buried story, will answer questions and sign books. Plitt’s books about Harper include the biography Martha Matilda Harper and the American Dream, the young adult book Martha the Hairpreneur (co-authored with Sally Valentine), and the young child book Martha’s Magical Hair. Says Plitt, “In these troubled times, Harper offers all of us, young and old, immigrant and citizen, inspiration to dare to pursue your dream and believe you can do good for yourself and others.

Provided information and photo