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Category: African American History

Book cover with the title White Burgers Black Cash, Fast Food from Black Exclusion to Exploitation. Author Naa Oyo A Kwate in a photo to right

Dr. Naa Oyo A. Kwate talks “White Burgers, Black Cash: Fast Food from Black Exclusion to Exploitation,” Oct 30

Posted by: Natalie Burclaff

Join us virtually on October 30 at 1p.m. (ET) for a discussion with author Dr. Naa Oyo A. Kwate about her book, "White Burgers, Black Cash: Fast Food from Black Exclusion to Exploitation" and how she utilized various Library resources to provide a well-researched account of the racial dynamics that have shaped the fast-food industry.

Male and female Black and indigenous students sitting in rows facing a Black male speaker who is pointing to an image of a pyramid.

Webinar Recording Now Available – African Americans in Business: Doing Historical Company Research

Posted by: Natalie Burclaff

The webinar focuses on John Merrick (1859-1919), Co-Founder of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company and Alonzo Herndon (1858-1927), Founder of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. Both the recording and transcript can be found on the African Americans in Business and Entrepreneurship: A Resource Guide.

image taken from a distance with buildings in the foreground and billowing closed of dark smoke behind them

The Tulsa Race Massacre: Relief and the Role of the American Red Cross

Posted by: Natalie Burclaff

One hundred years ago on May 31 and June 1, 1921, mobs of white residents attacked Black residents, homes, and businesses, as well as cultural and public institutions in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, OK, an oil boom city and one of the wealthiest Black communities in the United States. The Red Cross provided critical medical aid and temporary tent housing, and documented the violence in official reports.

woman with a pencil in her hand looks down at a ledger

Honoring African Americans: Cornerstones of Economic Development – African American Insurance Companies

Posted by: Natalie Burclaff

Many early African American insurance companies focused on industrial insurance or burial insurance and employed people in the community to sell and administer insurance contracts. Explore our resources related to African American insurance industry, including founders like Aaron McDuffie Moore, John Merrick and Charles Clinton (C.C.) Spaulding.