In 2013, former President #BarackObama signed a presidential proclamation to designate November as #NationalEntrepreneurshipMonth. The month celebrates "America's innovators, supports small businesses, and empowers entrepreneurs to turn their visions into reality".
Nationwide there are multiple examples of Black entrepreneurial successes in the era after the Civil War. Now is the time for people, organizations, communities and institutions to collaborate on documenting the prolific journey of Black entrepreneurship and its impact on society.
The selected business cards are a sample of a much larger African American business collection within the #NannyJackAndCoArchives. Out of the 10, seven business cards are from Baltimore.
1) Associated Colored Orchestras, L.B. Gamby, Business Manager, 1503 #PennsylvaniaAvenue, Baltimore, MD
2) Kurt L. Schmoke, #FirstElectedBlackMayorofBaltimore and African American president of #UniversityofBaltimore
3) Edward H. Woodford, Principal of the #ManassasIndustrialSchool, Manassas, Virginia
4) Cathy Hughes, #RadioOne CEO, 100 St. Paul Street, Baltimore MD. The company is now Urban One, the largest African American owned television network and distributor of digital urban content.
5) Willard W. Allen, Real Estate Broker, 1117 N. Carey Street, Baltimore MD; Grand Worshipful Master of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Maryland and its Jurisdictions
6) Hugh Walker, #WitherspoonLodgeNo178, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
7) Dr. Elijah Saunders, first African American resident in internal medicine at #UniversityofMarylandSchoolofMedicine, first African American cardiologist in Maryland, and world renowned hypertension specialist
8)Robert M. Bell, first African American Chief Judge on the #MarylandCourtofAppeals, the highest court in the state.
9) Andy Kirk and his 12 Clouds of Joy, #KansasCity, Missouri. In 1942, Kirk and his Clouds of Joy recorded "Take It and Git", which became the first single to hit #1 on the Harlem Hit Parade, the predecessor to the #BillboardRandBChart.
10) Harry's Afro Hut, 4656 York Road, Baltimore MD
11) The Negro in Business by Booker T. Washington, Copyright 1907
The archives also contain cancelled checks, receipts, matchbooks, ledgers, photographs, badges, oral histories, signs, products, tax papers, menus, architectural drawings and salvage, etc.
Keepin' it historically significant