Longview: Black History Lived and Written

Sleetie King was born in Arkansas. She and her family moved to Texas during the Great Depression so that her parents could find work. King's family was among the founding members of the Growing Valley Baptist Church of Longview, Texas, where she taught Sunday school class for 50 years. She continues to be a faithful member of Growing Valley.

Mrs. King attended a beauty college in Marshall, Texas, received her cosmetology license, and became one of the first black entrepreneurs in Longview when she opened Kings Beauty Shop in January 1955 next to the home where she still resides. In her business, she has had some customers for three and four generations.

For ten years, she was caregiver to her mother, Mary Randall, until Mrs. Randall s death in 2000 at the age of 112.

Mrs. King, a widow, loves reading her Bible, writing, tending her vegetable garden, and cooking meals, including apple pies and pound cakes for her family and friends. She resides in Longview, Texas.