The effects of racism and racial discrimination on minority business development: The case of black manufacturers in Chicago's ethnic beauty aids industry

Journal of Social History

Volumn 31, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 570-597

  Silverman, Robert Mark ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0032034089     PISSN: 00224529     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jsh/31.3.571     Document Type: Review

References (112)

1. Ivan H. Light, Ethnic Enterprise in America: Business and Welfare among Chinese, Japanese, and Blacks (Berkeley, 1972); Joseph Pierce, Negro Business and Business Education: Their Present and Prospective Development (Westport, 1971); Abram L. Harris, The Negro as Capitalist: A Study of Banking and Business Among American Negroes (New York, 1969); "Publication Number 4, 1899, The Negro In Business," in W. E. Burghardt DuBois, ed., Atlanta University Publications, Volume 1 (New York, 1968): 13-14; Eugine P. Foley, "The Negro Businessman, In Search of a Tradition," Daedalus 94 (Winter 1966): 107-144; E. Franklin Frazier, The Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of a New Middle Class in the United States (New York, 1962): 50-55; Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (New York, 1962): 304-332.
2. Ivan H. Light, Ethnic Enterprise in America: Business and Welfare among Chinese, Japanese, and Blacks (Berkeley, 1972); Joseph Pierce, Negro Business and Business Education: Their Present and Prospective Development (Westport, 1971); Abram L. Harris, The Negro as Capitalist: A Study of Banking and Business Among American Negroes (New York, 1969); "Publication Number 4, 1899, The Negro In Business," in W. E. Burghardt DuBois, ed., Atlanta University Publications, Volume 1 (New York, 1968): 13-14; Eugine P. Foley, "The Negro Businessman, In Search of a Tradition," Daedalus 94 (Winter 1966): 107-144; E. Franklin Frazier, The Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of a New Middle Class in the United States (New York, 1962): 50-55; Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (New York, 1962): 304-332.
3. Ivan H. Light, Ethnic Enterprise in America: Business and Welfare among Chinese, Japanese, and Blacks (Berkeley, 1972); Joseph Pierce, Negro Business and Business Education: Their Present and Prospective Development (Westport, 1971); Abram L. Harris, The Negro as Capitalist: A Study of Banking and Business Among American Negroes (New York, 1969); "Publication Number 4, 1899, The Negro In Business," in W. E. Burghardt DuBois, ed., Atlanta University Publications, Volume 1 (New York, 1968): 13-14; Eugine P. Foley, "The Negro Businessman, In Search of a Tradition," Daedalus 94 (Winter 1966): 107-144; E. Franklin Frazier, The Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of a New Middle Class in the United States (New York, 1962): 50-55; Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (New York, 1962): 304-332.
4. Ivan H. Light, Ethnic Enterprise in America: Business and Welfare among Chinese, Japanese, and Blacks (Berkeley, 1972); Joseph Pierce, Negro Business and Business Education: Their Present and Prospective Development (Westport, 1971); Abram L. Harris, The Negro as Capitalist: A Study of Banking and Business Among American Negroes (New York, 1969); "Publication Number 4, 1899, The Negro In Business," in W. E. Burghardt DuBois, ed., Atlanta University Publications, Volume 1 (New York, 1968): 13-14; Eugine P. Foley, "The Negro Businessman, In Search of a Tradition," Daedalus 94 (Winter 1966): 107-144; E. Franklin Frazier, The Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of a New Middle Class in the United States (New York, 1962): 50-55; Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (New York, 1962): 304-332.
5. Ivan H. Light, Ethnic Enterprise in America: Business and Welfare among Chinese, Japanese, and Blacks (Berkeley, 1972); Joseph Pierce, Negro Business and Business Education: Their Present and Prospective Development (Westport, 1971); Abram L. Harris, The Negro as Capitalist: A Study of Banking and Business Among American Negroes (New York, 1969); "Publication Number 4, 1899, The Negro In Business," in W. E. Burghardt DuBois, ed., Atlanta University Publications, Volume 1 (New York, 1968): 13-14; Eugine P. Foley, "The Negro Businessman, In Search of a Tradition," Daedalus 94 (Winter 1966): 107-144; E. Franklin Frazier, The Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of a New Middle Class in the United States (New York, 1962): 50-55; Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (New York, 1962): 304-332.
6. Ivan H. Light, Ethnic Enterprise in America: Business and Welfare among Chinese, Japanese, and Blacks (Berkeley, 1972); Joseph Pierce, Negro Business and Business Education: Their Present and Prospective Development (Westport, 1971); Abram L. Harris, The Negro as Capitalist: A Study of Banking and Business Among American Negroes (New York, 1969); "Publication Number 4, 1899, The Negro In Business," in W. E. Burghardt DuBois, ed., Atlanta University Publications, Volume 1 (New York, 1968): 13-14; Eugine P. Foley, "The Negro Businessman, In Search of a Tradition," Daedalus 94 (Winter 1966): 107-144; E. Franklin Frazier, The Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of a New Middle Class in the United States (New York, 1962): 50-55; Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (New York, 1962): 304-332.
7. Ivan H. Light, Ethnic Enterprise in America: Business and Welfare among Chinese, Japanese, and Blacks (Berkeley, 1972); Joseph Pierce, Negro Business and Business Education: Their Present and Prospective Development (Westport, 1971); Abram L. Harris, The Negro as Capitalist: A Study of Banking and Business Among American Negroes (New York, 1969); "Publication Number 4, 1899, The Negro In Business," in W. E. Burghardt DuBois, ed., Atlanta University Publications, Volume 1 (New York, 1968): 13-14; Eugine P. Foley, "The Negro Businessman, In Search of a Tradition," Daedalus 94 (Winter 1966): 107-144; E. Franklin Frazier, The Black Bourgeoisie: The Rise of a New Middle Class in the United States (New York, 1962): 50-55; Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (New York, 1962): 304-332.
8. Booker T. Washington, The Negro in Business (New York, 1971): 138-146.
9. Allan H. Spear, Block Chicago: The Making of a Negro Ghetto, 1890-1920 (Chicago, 1967):113 and 184.
10. For a detailed discussion of the Great Migration see, St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton, Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City (Chicago, 1993); James R. Grossman, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration (Chicago, 1989); Spear, Block Chicago.
11. For a detailed discussion of the Great Migration see, St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton, Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City (Chicago, 1993); James R. Grossman, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration (Chicago, 1989); Spear, Block Chicago.
12. Spear, Block Chicago: 12.
13. Ibid., 12.
14. Drake and Cayton, Block Metropolis: 434.
15. "Business in Bronzeville," Time (18 April 1938): 70.
16. Lizabeth Cohen, Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939 (New York, 1990): 147-158; Drake and Cayton, Block Metropolis: 433-437.
17. Lizabeth Cohen, Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939 (New York, 1990): 147-158; Drake and Cayton, Block Metropolis: 433-437.
18. Drake and Cayton, Block Metropolis: 438.
19. Ibid., 438.
20. Ibid.
21. "Business in Bronzeville," Time (18 April 1938): 70.
22. Drake and Cayton, Block Metropolis: 461.
23. John N. Ingham and Lynne B. Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: A Bibliographical Dictionary (Westport, 1994): 634-640.
24. Ibid., 680-693.
25. Barnett, Claude Albert, Biographical Sketch, n.d., Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 405, Folder 6.
26. Ibid.
27. A variety of materials related to Claude A. Barnett's ties to the Tuskegee Institute are found in the Claude A. Barnett Collection at the Chicago Historical Society.
28. "C. A. Barnett,77, Founder of Negro Wire Service, Dies," Chicago Sun-Times (3 August 1967): 88.
29. Letter to Claude A. Barnett from the Office of the Secretary of State of Illinois, 9 January 1947, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 263, Folder 3.
30. Pamphlet for Kashmir Preparations, n.d. but pre-1921, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 262, Folder 3.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. Letter to Claude A. Barnett from the Office of the Secretary of State of Illinois, 9 January 1947, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 263, Folder 3.
34. Pamphlet for Nile Queen Preparations, n.d. but post-1921, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 262, Folder 3.
35. Letterhead for Kashmir Chemical Company, 1920, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 262, Folder 2.
36. F. B. Ransom's letter to the Kashmir Chemical Company, 18 March 1920, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 262, Folder 2.
37. Kashmir Chemical Company's reply to F. B. Ransom, 19 March 1920, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 262, Folder 2.
38. F. B. Ransom's reply to the Kashmir Chemical Company, 20 March 1920, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 262, Folder 2.
39. Ibid.
40. Barnett discusses the details of these differences in a letter he sent to A. L. Holsey, the Secretary of the National Negro Business League, 29 October 1930, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 261, Folder 6.
41. Barnett discusses Murray's Supreme Products Company in a letter he sent to A. L. Holsey, the Secretary of the National Negro Business League, 4 March 1933, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 261, Folder 6.
42. "Charles D. Murray, Obit.," Chicago Tribune (26 July 1955).
43. Advertisement for Murray's Superior Products Featuring Joe Louis, The Crisis, 45, 4 (April 1938).
44. Advertisement for Murray's Superior Products Featuring Charles D. Murray, The Crisis, 45, 4 (April 1938).
45. James J. Flynn, Negroes of Achievement in Modern America (New York, 1970): 109-120.
46. Ibid.
47. There is some dispute over the year that the Overton Hygienic Manufacturing Company was formed. A notation in The Crisis dates the company's inception back to 1898 in Kansas City, see The Crisis (September 1915): 242. Also, Ingham dates the company back to the same date; see Ingham and Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: 492-499. However, the confusion seems to be the result of an earlier company operated by Overton going bankrupt and later being reorganized by Overton and Forbes in 1909.
48. There is some dispute over the year that the Overton Hygienic Manufacturing Company was formed. A notation in The Crisis dates the company's inception back to 1898 in Kansas City, see The Crisis (September 1915): 242. Also, Ingham dates the company back to the same date; see Ingham and Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: 492-499. However, the confusion seems to be the result of an earlier company operated by Overton going bankrupt and later being reorganized by Overton and Forbes in 1909.
49. The genesis of this conglomerate is briefly described in "Chicago Claims Supremacy," Opportunity (March 1929): 92-93.
50. Flynn, Negroes of Achievement in Modern America: 109-120.
51. Ingham and Feldman. African-American Business Leaders: 492-499.
52. Ibid.
53. Russell L. Adams, Great Negroes Past and Present (Chicago, 1964): 71.
54. "Anthony Overton, Known As the 'Merchant Prince' of His Race, Heads the Overton Hygienic Manufacturing Company, Rated by Bradstreet and Dun At a Million Dollars," Pittsburgh Courier (10 August 1929).
55. Drake and Cayton, Block Metropolis: 462-463; Spear, Black Chicago: 184.
56. Ingham and Feldman. African-American Business Leaders: 492-499; "Anthony Overton, Obit," Chicago Tribune (4 July 1946).
57. Ingham and Feldman. African-American Business Leaders: 492-499; "Anthony Overton, Obit," Chicago Tribune (4 July 1946).
58. Barnett's letter to A. L. Holsey the Secretary of the National Negro Business League, 4 March 1933, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 261, Folder 6.
59. Cohen, Making a New Deal: 151-154; Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis: 439-453.
60. Cohen, Making a New Deal: 151-154; Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis: 439-453.
61. Drake and Cayton, Black Metropolis: 214-218.
62. Dudley's Haircare Fact Book (Greensboro, 1993): 24-27.
63. Ingham and Feldman. African-American Business Leaders: 244-249.
64. Dudley's Haircare Fact Book: 24-27.
65. "The Dean of Black Entrepreneurs," Chicago Tribune (9 June 1987): 3-1.
66. "Fuller Brings It To Your Door, House-To-House Selling Pays Off," The Chicago Defender (26 May 1951): 13.
67. Ibid.
68. Ibid.
69. "The Dean of Black Entrepreneurs," Chicago Tribune (9 June 1987): 3-1.
70. ANP release titled "Largest Cosmetic Business Holds Annual Conference, Plan $100 Million Concern," 39 July 1956, Claude A. Barnett Collection, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, Box 261, Folder 7.
71. Ibid.
72. Ibid.
73. "Aiming for $100-Million Sales," Fortune (September 1957): 76.
74. Ingham and Feldman. African-American Business Leaders: 244-249.
75. "Salvation of Negro in America Lies in Controlling Economy," Pittsburgh Courier Centennial Edition (17 August 1963): 4-1.
76. Ibid.
77. "S.B. Fuller, A Man and His Products," Black Enterprise, 6.1 (August 1975): 46.
78. Ibid.
79. Ibid.
80. "A Negro Businessman Speaks His Mind," U.S. New & World Reports (19 August 1963): 58.
81. Ibid.
82. "The Dean of Black Entrepreneurs," Chicago Tribune (9 June 1987): 3-1.
83. Paul Bullock, Watts, the Aftermath, an Inside View of the Ghetto, by the People of Watts (New York 1969); California Governors Commission on the Los Angeles Riots, Violence in the City - An End or a Beginning? (Los Angeles 1965).
84. Paul Bullock, Watts, the Aftermath, an Inside View of the Ghetto, by the People of Watts (New York 1969); California Governors Commission on the Los Angeles Riots, Violence in the City - An End or a Beginning? (Los Angeles 1965).
85. Howard Aldrich and Albert J. Reiss, Jr., "The Effects of Civil Disorder on Small Business in the Inner City," Journal of Social Issues 26.1 (1970): 187-206.
86. Ibid., 191.
87. "S.B. Fuller, A Man and His Products," Black Enterprise, 6.1 (August 1975): 46.
88. Ibid.
89. "S.B. Fuller Dead, a Business Legend, Obit.," Chicago Defender (25 October 1988); "S.B. Fuller, Black Entrepreneurs' Dean, Obit.," Chicago Tribune (26 October 1988).
90. "S.B. Fuller Dead, a Business Legend, Obit.," Chicago Defender (25 October 1988); "S.B. Fuller, Black Entrepreneurs' Dean, Obit.," Chicago Tribune (26 October 1988).
91. Ingham and Feldman, Africon-American Business Leaders: 357-366.
92. Ibid., 358.
93. "Making Black Beautiful," Time (7 December 1970): 87.
94. Ibid., 88.
95. Ingham and Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: 358.
96. Ibid., 358.
97. Ibid.
98. "Making Black Beautiful," Time (7 December 1970): 88.
99. Ingham and Feldman. African-American Business Leaders: 360.
100. Ibid., 360.
101. Ibid., 361.
102. Ibid., 361.
103. Ibid., 362.
104. "Big Marketers Move in on Ethnic Haircare," Advertising Age (12 May 1986): 24.
105. Dudley's Haircare Fact Book: 35.
106. Penelope Wang and Maggie Malone, "Targeting Black Dollars, White-Owned Companies Muscle Minority Firms Out of the Hair-Care Market," Newsweek (13 October 1986): 54.
107. Phyllis Furman, "Ethnic Haircare Marketers Battle for Shares," Advertising Age (2 March 1997): 52.
108. Ingham and Feldman. African-American Business Leaders: 363.
109. "Johnson Products Tries to Catch a New Wave," Business Week (27 August 1990): 56.
110. "Brawl in the Family at Johnson Products," Business Week (23 March 1992): 34; "Johnson Products Co. Regrouping After Family Row,"Black Enterprise (May 1992): 17.
111. "Brawl in the Family at Johnson Products," Business Week (23 March 1992): 34; "Johnson Products Co. Regrouping After Family Row,"Black Enterprise (May 1992): 17.
112. "A Compulsive Buyer or a Master Builder," Business Week (28 June 1993): 38.