Edition |
First edition. |
Description |
xv, 300 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations ; 22 cm |
Note |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-285) and index. |
Contents |
The first black millionaire -- Abolitionism and capitalism -- King Cotton's bastard -- Funding the insurrection -- Robert Reed Church and the Civil War -- The near lynching of a millionaire -- Forty acres deferred -- Bob Church vs Jim Crow -- Mother of civil rights in California -- Saint or sinner? -- Building the promised land in Oklahoma -- Founding the black hair industry -- Black Cleopatra -- Las days of Mary Ellen Pleasant -- The most powerful black man alive -- "Black Wall Street" rises -- Battle for hair supremacy -- The trials of Hannah Elias -- Black millionaire legacy -- End of the promise -- Paris by way of Harlem. |
Summary |
The astonishing untold history of America’s first black millionaires—former slaves who endured incredible challenges to amass and maintain their wealth for a century, from the Jacksonian period to the Roaring Twenties—self-made entrepreneurs whose unknown success mirrored that of white American business heroes. Between the years of 1830 and 1927, as the last generation of blacks born into slavery was reaching maturity, a small group of smart, tenacious, and daring men and women broke new ground to attain the storied one percent-- the highest levels of financial success. Black Fortunes is an intriguing look at these remarkable individuals, including Napoleon Bonaparte Drew—author Shomari Wills’ great-great-great-grandfather—the first black man in Powhatan County (contemporary Richmond) to own property in post-Civil War Virginia. His achievements were matched by five other unknown black entrepreneurs including: Mary Ellen Pleasant, who used her Gold Rush wealth to further the cause of abolitionist John Brown; Robert Reed Church, who became the largest landowner in Tennessee; Hannah Elias, the mistress of a New York City millionaire, who used the land her lover gave her to build an empire in Harlem; orphan and self-taught chemist Annie Turnbo-Malone, who developed the first national brand of hair care products; Madam C. J Walker, Turnbo-Malone’s employee who would earn the nickname America’s "first female black millionaire;" Mississippi school teacher O. W. Gurley, who developed a piece of Tulsa, Oklahoma, into a "town" for wealthy black professionals and craftsmen" that would become known as "the Black Wall Street." |
Subject |
African American businesspeople -- Biography.
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African American businesspeople -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
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Success in business -- United States -- Case studies.
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Genre/Form |
Biographies.
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ISBN |
9780062437594 (hardcover) |
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0062437593 (hardcover) |
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