The National Negro Business League (NNBL) was founded by Booker T. Washington in Boston, Massachusetts in 1900. The league, which predated the United States Chamber of Commerce by 12 years, strives to enhance the commercial and economic prosperity of the African American community. The NNBL … Read MoreNational Negro Business League (1900 – )
Boxing promoter Don King was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1931. The son of a steelworker who died in a smelter explosion, King’s earliest success was the result of his ownership of a popular tavern, where many top black musicians performed, and an illegal bookmaking … Read MoreDon King (1931- )
Robert Curry Owens was born in Los Angeles, California in January of 1860 to Charles Owens, a livery stable owner, and Ellen Mason-Owens. As the first born grandson to the Owens-Mason union, Robert rose to prominence in Los Angeles after inheriting both his father’s and … Read MoreRobert Curry Owens (1860-?)
In 1910 James Edward Shepard founded North Carolina College for Negroes in Durham, North Carolina. Shepard was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina along with eleven other siblings. His father was Reverend Augustus Shepard and his mother was Harriet E. Shepard. Shepard received his … Read MoreJames Edward Shepard (1875-1947)
The Messenger, an independent magazine, was founded by labor activist A. Philip Randolph and economist Chandler Owen in 1917 with the help of the Socialist party. The Messenger alarmed both the white and black establishments by supporting socialism as well as the arrival of the … Read MoreMessenger (1917-1928)
James P. Thomas, a noted African American barber and businessman, was born in 1827 in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the mulatto son of a famous antebellum judge, John Catron (one of the justices in the Dred Scott case), and a slave mother, Sally Thomas, who … Read MoreJames P. Thomas (1827-1913)
Peter Hill, a clockmaker, was born on July 19, 1767 in the Burlington Township, New Jersey. He is assumed to be the son of slaves owned by a clockmaker named Joseph Hollinshead, Jr. Peter Hill grew up in the Hollinshead household and as he grew … Read MorePeter Hill (1767-1820)
Joshua Bowen Smith, caterer, abolitionist, and state senator, was born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania in 1813. Details regarding his childhood remain obscure. However, it is known that he was educated in the public school system of Pennsylvania with the assistance of a wealthy Quaker. In 1836 … Read MoreJoshua Bowen Smith (1813-1879)
Augustus Granville Dill, sociologist, business manager, musician, and colleague of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) co-founder W.E.B. Du Bois, is best known for his work overseeing the publication of Du Bois’s journal, The Crisis, between 1913 and 1928. He also helped … Read MoreAugustus Granville Dill (1881-1956)
Anti-affirmative action activist, businessman and former University of California regent Wardell (Ward) Anthony Connerly is popularly known as the key figure responsible for passage of California Proposition 209 which outlawed race and gender based preferences in state college and university admission and hiring. Connerly was … Read MoreWard Connerly (1939- )
