Marjorie Joyner (née Stewart; October 24, 1896 – December 27, 1994) was an American businesswoman, hair care entrepreneur, philanthropist, educator, and activist.

[4] Joyner later met Madam C. J. Walker, an African American beauty entrepreneur, and the owner of a cosmetic empire.

[2][1] After her time with Walker beauty schools, Joyner served as a leader in developing new products, such as her permanent wave machine.

On October 27, 1945, Joyner, along with renowned educator, Mary McLeod Bethune and U.S. congressman William Dawson, founded a sorority and fraternity dedicated to the advancement and promotion of the beauty industry, Alpha Chi Pi Omega.

In 1919, Joyner started looking for an easier way for women to curl their hair, taking her inspiration from a pot roast cooking with paper pins to quicken preparation time.

[1] Joyner died on December 27, 1994, of heart failure at her home in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, aged 98.

[2] In 1987, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington opened an exhibit featuring Joyner's permanent wave machine and a replica of her original salon.

[3] Currently, her papers reside in the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of African-American History and Literature at the Chicago Public Library.