In antebellum America, some slaves as well as free blacks could earn money barbering, and they held a monopoly in the profession that primarily served wealthy whites. In the mid- to late 1880s, German and Italian immigrants usurped black barbers. *During the Great Migration, many black newspapers were distributed from black Barbershops. By 1920, a Chicago directory of black businesses listed 211 barbers and 108 beauty salons.