Book ID: CBB127293803

The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago: Anthony Overton and the Building of a Financial Empire (2020)

unapi

Weems, Robert E., Jr. (Author)


University of Illinois Press


Publication Date: 2020
Physical Details: 224
Language: English

Born to enslaved parents, Anthony Overton became one of the leading African American entrepreneurs of the twentieth century. Overton's Chicago-based empire ranged from personal care products and media properties to insurance and finance. Yet, despite success and acclaim as the first business figure to win the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, Overton remains an enigma. Robert E. Weems Jr. restores Overton to his rightful place in American business history. Dispelling stubborn myths, he traces Overton's rise from mentorship by Booker T. Washington, through early failures, to a fateful move to Chicago in 1911. There, Overton started a popular magazine aimed at African American women that helped him dramatically grow his cosmetics firm. Overton went on to become the first African American to head a major business conglomerate, only to lose significant parts of his businesses-and his public persona as "the merchant prince of his race"-in the Depression, before rebounding once again in the early 1940s. Revealing and panoramic, The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago weaves the fascinating life story of an African American trailblazer through the eventful history of his times. (Publisher)

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Reviewed By

Review Keith Hollingsworth (Winter 2020) Review of "The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago: Anthony Overton and the Building of a Financial Empire". Business History Review (pp. 853-855). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB127293803/

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Authors & Contributors
Plumpe, Werner
Weems, Robert E
Davis, Joshua Clark
Robert D. Lewis
Parker, Traci
Trotter, Joe William, Jr.
Concepts
Business history
Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship
African Americans
Technological innovation
Businesspeople
Race
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
20th century, early
Places
United States
Chicago (Illinois, U.S.)
Western states (U.S.)
Germany
Institutions
Airbnb (Firm)
Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft (I. G. Farben)
Theranos (firm)
Uber
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