
Claudia Mary Thomasina Hall Laughlin was born September 6, 1903 in Dublin, Lance County, Georgia. She was the youngest of six children and was orphaned at the age of seven. She attended Shady Grove Baptist Church and Turkey Creek Elementary School. At the age of 19 she came to Buffalo and lived at 392 Spring Street. She secured a job as a maid in the Statler Hilton Hotel while attending Poro College School of Beauty Culture on William Street. In 1939, she purchased her own beauty shop at 11W. Peckham Street.