Question: What's the connection between a millionaire cosmetics company founder and the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
Answer: Samuel B. Fuller was an African American entrepreneur who started his entrepreneurial career with a $25-loan. He grew a door-to-door soap sales business into a multi-million dollar corporation, Fuller Products. His company sold a diverse line of cosmetics , hair care and hosiery. In the 1950s, he bought a popular "white" Southern cosmetics company secretly. When word got out, the White Citizens Councils organized a boycott of Fuller's product line. During the 1950s, Fuller was a leading black Republican, but he promoted civil rights. He tried to organize a cooperative of business leaders to buy the Montgomery bus company. Martin Luther King, Jr. was apparently skeptical of the idea, and the group was unable to raise enough money. In 1984, Fuller Products was purchased by Dudley. Fuller died of kidney failure in 1988.
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