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North Carolina Mutual executives.

Black Capitalism and the City

African American insurance and the actuarial double bind.
by Ginger Nolan via Places Journal on April 16, 2024
Bottom half of a red sheet music cover with the words "Sung by Aida Overton Walker with the Smart Set Co" written on it with a portrait of Aida to the right

Sheet Music Covers for the Gotham-Attucks Company, ca. 1905–1911

Beginning in 1905, one star-studded song-publishing company would push the aesthetic limits of how Black popular music was shown to the public.
by Dorothy Berry via The Public Domain Review on February 1, 2024
1924 map of Baltimore city. An orange circle marks the location of Burton's store

Samuel L. Burton’s Remarkable Comeback Story

In one of the most unique cases in the history of race riots, the African American businessperson sued his birthplace of Onancock, Virginia, in September 1910.
by Emmanuel Mehr via Baltimore Histories Weekly on January 27, 2024
Collage of Ebony cover, makeup ad, and card catalogue.

Rebrand

"Ebony" strives to become a one-stop shop.
by Mary Retta via Columbia Journalism Review on October 16, 2023
Side profile painting of James Forten, dressed in a black coat and a white collar

James Forten, Revolutionary: Forgotten No More

James Forten was one of Philadelphia’s most distinguished and important citizens.
by Adam E. Zielinski via Journal of the American Revolution on June 13, 2023
Frederick Douglass Patterson, behind the wheel, with an unidentified passenger in a 1910 or 1911 Maxwell automobile in for repairs at the C.R. Patterson & Sons car repair shop, before the Pattersons began making cars themselves.

How America’s First — and Only — Black Automakers Defied the Odds

C.R. Patterson & Sons of Greenfield became the first Black-owned automobile manufacturer in 1915. More than a century later, it remains the only known one.
by Kevin Williams via Retropolis on February 18, 2023

The Black Record Label That Introduced the Beatles to America

Over its 13-year run, Vee Jay built a roster that left a lasting impact on every genre of music.
by Bryan Greene via Smithsonian on February 23, 2022
The 1906 Atlanta massacre, as depicted on the front page of the newspaper Le Petit Journal in 1906.

The 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre: How Fearmongering Led to Violence

As African Americans achieved economic success in Atlanta in the early 1900s, the city simmered with racial strife that was further spread by yellow journalism.
by Nadra Kareem Little via HISTORY on September 14, 2021
Advertisement for Ethel Waters' record

The Rise and Fall of Black Swan Records

The story of the first major black-owned record label and the mystery behind the man who created it.
by Joe Richman via Radio Diaries on June 25, 2021
Three panels of a graphic depicting Soul city. Images include two people walking in a street, people playing golf, and the inside of a mall

The Plan to Build a Capital for Black Capitalism

In 1969, an activist set out to build an African-American metropolis from scratch. What would have happened if Soul City had succeeded?
by Kelefa Sanneh via The New Yorker on February 1, 2021
A portrait of David Ruggles, who opened the first black-owned bookstore in America, between two white men.

The First Black-Owned Bookstore and the Fight for Freedom

Black abolitionist David Ruggles opened the first Black-owned bookstore in 1834, pointing the way to freedom—in more ways than one.
by Vickie Cox Edmondson, Dorothy B. Porter, Ashawnta Jackson, Archie B. Caroll via JSTOR Daily on July 10, 2020

Rube Foster Was the Big Man Behind the First Successful Negro Baseball League

100 years ago, it took a combination of salesman and dictator to launch a historic era for black teams.
by John Florio, Ouisie Shapiro via Andscape on February 13, 2020
A Black woman poses with the McDonald's golden arches.

How Fast Food "Became Black"

A new book, "Franchise," explains how black franchise owners became the backbone of the industry.
by Marcia Chatelain, Cynthia R. Greenlee via Vox on January 10, 2020
Four African-Americans in front of a McDonalds restaurant

The Intertwined History of McDonald’s and Black America

In good ways and bad, the Golden Arches have always loomed large in the African American experience.
by Marcia Chatelain via Gen on January 6, 2020
Catalog, in red and black, for Drum & Spear Bookstore, depicting silhouettes of three people with afro hairstyles.

The FBI's War on Black-Owned Bookstores

At the height of the Black Power movement, the Bureau focused on the unlikeliest of public enemies: black independent booksellers.
by Joshua Clark Davis via The Atlantic on February 19, 2018

Barbering for Freedom

Segregation, separatism, and the history of black barbershops.
by Elias Rodriques via n+1 on September 28, 2015

Can the Rodeo Save a Historic Black Town?

One woman’s quest to rescue Boley, Oklahoma.
by Caleb Gayle via The Atlantic on December 17, 2024
Wilt Chamberlain with young people holding Nixon signs.

How the World’s Biggest Basketball Star Helped Richard Nixon Woo Black Voters

It was a bold plan to win over Black voters skeptical of the Democratic Party. But it turned out to be an illusion.
by Shaun Assael via Politico Magazine on July 7, 2024
The Three Strikes You’re Out fishing crew : several older Black man posing and smiling around a large fish.

Fish Hacks

Often dismissed as a “trash fish,” the porgy is an anchor of Black maritime culture.
by Jayson Maurice Porter via Distillations on November 17, 2023
A view of Greenwood Avenue before it was destroyed in the 1921 race massacre.

What Really Caused the Destruction of Tulsa’s ‘Black Wall Street’

What happened after the destruction of Greenwood, once home to some of the wealthiest African Americans in the US.
by Brentin Mock, Victor Luckerson via CityLab on May 30, 2023
Ferris wheel at the Chicago World Fair of 1893.

The Magic Lantern Man

At every stop, he enthralled audiences with a device called a “stereopticon.”
by David Cecelski via David Cecelski.com on May 1, 2023
Mural of Roberto Clemente on the side of the museum dedicated to him.

Erased and Forgotten Sports History In Pittsburgh’s Crossroads of the World

The brothers from Barbados who built Negro League stadiums, and community efforts to create historic markers for them.
by David S. Rotenstein via The Metropole on January 19, 2023
Drawing of woman crying over her murdered father.

A Gilded Age Tale of Murder and Madness

In opulent seaside Newport, a wealthy and beloved Black businessman turns up dead. The resulting trial will tear the town in two.
by Kay Adams, Nancy Markey via Narratively on November 17, 2022
Illustration of Black oystermen in dredging boats along the Chesapeake Bay

The Double Life of New York's Black Oyster King

Thomas Downing was a fine-dining pioneer with a secret.
by Briona Lamback via Atlas Obscura on September 28, 2022
Black and white photo of Ishmael Reed as a child in Willert Park Courts, 1943.

The Buffalo I Knew

The city is at a crossroads. Which path will it take?
by Ishmael Reed via New York Review of Books on July 9, 2022
Booker T. Washington addressing a laughing crowd of African American men in Lakeland, Tennessee, during his campaign promoting African American education. Ca. 1900.

Market Solutions to Ancient Sins

Freedom and prosperity are the most effective cure for the scars of slavery and racism.
by Jason Jewell via Law & Liberty on June 28, 2022
Don Cornelius and the Soul Train Dancers on the dance floor, with fist raised in the Black Power salute, at the end of a show.

Soul Train and the Desire for Black Power

Don Cornelius had faith that Black culture would attract a mass audience, and a belief that Black culture should be in the hands of Black people.
by Mark Anthony Neal via The Nation on December 22, 2021
John Marshall Harlan and Robert James Harlan

The Black Hero Behind One of the Greatest Supreme Court Justices

John Marshall Harlan's relationship with an enslaved man who grew up in his home showed how respect could transcend barriers and point a path to freedom.
by Peter S. Canellos via Politico Magazine on June 6, 2021
Black employees photographed at St. Luke Penny Savings Bank

The Forgotten Stories of America's Black Wall Streets

A century after the Tulsa Race Massacre, what happened there is finally more widely known—but other "Black Wall Street" stories remain hidden.
by Olivia B. Waxman, Arpita Aneja via TIME on May 28, 2021
A black man surveying destroyed property

B.C. Franklin and the Tulsa Massacre: A Triracial History

The life of Tulsa attorney B.C. Franklin is a testament to the triracial history of the West.
by Alaina E. Roberts via Perspectives on History on May 26, 2021
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