"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE": William Reuben Pettiford

During my recent research of Black Owned Banks in America, I found that as of February 2023, there are between 15-42 Black Owned Banks currently operating in the United States. Additionally, I found that there are between 100 - 142 financial institutions listed as being “Black Led”(meaning that the bank meets the requirements as being a minority depository institution ). Furthermore, I also discovered that the government “qualifications, definition,and designation” for a bank to be considered a Black Owned Bank is quite different from what most Black People would call a Black Owned Bank. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation[ FDIC ] in order for a minority depository institution to be designated as Minority Owned or Black Owned Bank, the institution must meet the following requirements : 51 percent or more of the voting stock is owned by minority individuals or a majority of the board of directors is minority, the community that the institution serves is predominantly minority, and ownership must be by U.S. citizens or permanent legal U.S. residents. So what caused me to go and seek this information? Well,of course it has to do with this week’s article about the main founder of “The Penny Savings Bank”{ the first financial institution in the state of Alabama owned-and-operated by Negroes }, William Reuben Pettiford. William was born in North Carolina, in 1847. Although his parents were Negroes , they were not slaves. Nothing was reported about his earlier schooling in North Carolina, however ,he reportedly moved to Alabama in 1869, because he wanted to further his education. Once in Alabama, William enrolled in Lincoln Normal School( the predecessor of Alabama State University). He had to work odd jobs while attending school, but around 1876, he was able to obtain his degree. In 1877, William was able to gain a teaching position at Selma University [ where he also took classes in theology toward becoming a minister ]. In 1880, he decided to leave his teaching position to accept his call to the ministry. He became the pastor of First Baptist Church of Union Springs{ in Alabama }. Also, William became principal of the city school for Negroes. In 1883, he was urged by Booker T Washington and other Black Baptist church leaders to become the pastor of First Colored Baptist Church of Birmingham( the same church that would later be named “The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church,” where the four innocent Black girls were killed in the tragic bombing on the morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963. The church was targeted because it served as a meeting place for civil rights meetings & activities ). So he packed his bags and moved to Birmingham,Alabama. Although William was a minister of the gospel, he was more than just a preacher of the gospel. He allied himself with several of the leading Black citizens of Birmingham . These relationships and his strong relationship with Booker T Washington proved to be of great help when he came up with the idea of forming a local bank in the city of Birmingham. Additionally, William strategically allied himself with several of the White Bankers in Birmingham. On October 15, 1890, the Alabama Penny Savings Bank opened its doors with William Reuben Pettiford as President[ they later established bank branches in Selma, Anniston, and Montgomery , Alabama ]. It was because of the Penny Savings Bank that many Negroes were able to own their own homes and achieve financial independence! Along with being a member of the National Negro Business League, William helped organize the National Negro Banker’s Association in 1906 and served as its president until his death. When it came to the Black financial movement, he was one of the leading Black figures of his era! One of his biggest accomplishments as president was the construction of the Alabama Penny Savings Bank Building { similar to the Miller-Roy Building that was built on Desiard St in Monroe, Louisiana }that was built in 1913. The building was located on Eighteenth Street in Birmingham’s thriving business district. The building was five-stories high and housed over 50 other Black businesses. Sadly, William Reuben Pettiford died in September 1914,at the age of 67[ and the PennySavings Bank died shortly thereafter ; it failed in 1915, less than a year after his death ].

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : JANE ELLEN MCALLISTER

Most of the time when I hear people mention Vicksburg, Mississippi, they either say something about the “Famous American Civil War Battle” or the “Casino” in Vicksburg. However, I never ever heard anyone mention the fact that the “First African-American Woman” to receive her Doctorate Degree in Education was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Yes, in 1929, Jane Ellen McAllister earned her “PhD in Education”from The Prestigious Columbia University! She was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi , on October 24, 1899. Thanks to her father being employed as a mail carrier, and her mother working as a teacher, Jane and her family were able to live better than many of the Black families of Vicksburg during that time. Also, Jane performed so well in school that she ended up graduating from high school at the age of 15! From there she attended Talladega College in Alabama. Her parents were so proud of her when she graduated with honors in 1919( at the age of 19 ), and became the the youngest college graduate at Talladega! After obtaining her B.A. Degree, Jane accepted a teaching position at Emerson College in Mobile,Alabama. Jane’s hunger for knowledge led her to attend the University of Michigan[ where she earned her M.A. Degree in 1921 ]. Amongst the many Universities she taught and worked during her “50” year career in Education included, Straight University in New Orleans, Louisiana ; over 24 years at Miner Teachers College in Washington D.C.{ where she served as Professor of Education } ; at Jackson College ( at the special request of the president,Jacob L Reddix ) ; Jackson State University ; Southern University[ where she taught piano, Latin, and education ] ; Grambling State University ; Fisk University ; Dillard University ; and Virginia State University. Jane was a tireless crusader for the education of Black teachers and Black students. Along with developing programs for the Universities, she helped oversee the funding for the programs and the Universities as well. Jane Ellen McAllister died in Vicksburg, Mississippi on January 10, 1996. In her memory and for the contributions she made at Jackson State University, the school decided to name a dorm in her honor, and remembers her work with lectures.

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : John Gilmore Riley

For those who didn’t know, the reason why I chose to write my “Our Rich Black Heritage” articles is to highlight other African-Americans besides the ones that we are use to hearing about during Black History Month. Also, I did it to help other Black People to realize that our Black ancestors were more than just slaves for White People, and they had Black-Owned Insurance Companies, Black-Owned Hotels, and Black-Owned Banks! Not only that, but they were able to establish Black Business Districts in just about every major city in America( and many of the small towns). Also, they had their own Black-Owned funeral homes,Movie Theatres, and Grocery Stores[ there was even a Black-Owned Dairy, owned by the “Willis family” in West Monroe, Louisiana ]. Recently, I discovered that there were “8 Black Millionaires” in the state of Florida, between 1870 - 1955! You see, we as Black People need to do as my dad use to say,”Go Back And Check The Record!” When you go back and check the record, you’ll see that our Black ancestors were more than slaves for the White People!Now, back to this week’s Black Hero, John Gilmore Riley. He was born a slave in 1857. John spent almost “50 years” as an Educator and decades as a Civic Leader. He received formal schooling at private and public schools. At the age of 20, he was hired to teach at a school in Wakulla County, in Tennessee. In 1892 he became principal of the Lincoln Academy[ located at 438 West Brevard Street in Tallahassee, Florida ]. He remained principal of the school for 34 years, and retired in 1926. An interesting fact about John Gilmore Riley is that he was one of the few Negroes to have owned land in Tallahassee in 1903. He was able to purchase seven major downtown parcels of land, among them including the property on which he built his home in 1895 { the site of the Department of Natural Resource and Bryant Building and the parking lot of the Florida State University Law School }. The wood-frame home that he built is the last physical evidence of what was once a thriving Negro community in downtown Tallahassee at the turn of the 20th century. A hundred years later, in 1995, his home was converted to a museum. Also, in 1996, the Riley House became the John G. Riley Center/Museum of African American History and Culture( the museum sits at the bottom of a hill in downtown Tallahassee, at the corner of Meridian and Jefferson Streets). John Gilmore Riley died in 1954, the same year that the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision was rendered.

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : FRANCES BARRIER WILLIAMS

Ever since before the American Civil War, Civil Rights and Education have been two of the top priorities for Black People in America. Although Black People have more representation today than they had in the early 1970s[ in the form of Black Senators, House Representatives, City Council Members, Police Jurors, and School Board members ], the fact is that the problems in the areas of Civil Rights and Education still exists similar as they did in the early 1970s. Somehow or another Black People are going to hath to organize, strategize, and plan ways of getting our elected public officials to address these two concerns. If not, we may as well go ahead and accept the second-class citizenship that they been trying to give us for years! Well, this week’s Black Heroine is Frances Barrier Williams. She was a Negro Educator and Civil Rights & Women’s Rights Activist. Frances was born on February 12, 1855 to Anthony and Harriet Barrier. Their family lived in Brockport, New York( an area mostly populated by White People ). Her father owned several profitable businesses and had built a solid real estate portfolio{ in case you didn’t know, since New York had “ALREADY” granted slaves their “FREEDOM” as early as 1827, Negroes were allowed to own Businesses and property }. In 1870, Frances became the first Negro to graduate from Brockport State Normal School[ now Suny-College at Brockport ]. She experienced racism at its worst when she accepted a teaching position in Hannibal , Missouri. Words can’t describe what Frances had to endure and witness when she moved there( this experience is said to have been what got her started in activism and civil rights ). From Missouri, she traveled to Boston, Massachusetts to study piano at the New England Conservatory of Music. While at the Music Conservatory , she once again had an encounter with racism. It seems that many of the Southern White students that attended the Music Conservatory objected to Frances’s presence, and she was pressured to leave! She packed her bags and headed for Washington, D.C.{ a area where many Black Educators were migrating to }. Once she got there, Frances began socialising and making connections with other Black Educators[ it was in Washington, D.C. that she met her future husband, Samuel Laing Williams, they were married in August 1887 ]. To her dismay, when she enrolled in the School of Fine Arts to study portrait painting in Washington, D.C., she once again experienced significant difficulties due to her race. After staying in Washington for about 2 years, the couple moved to Chicago, Illinois. From 1900 up until 1921 when her her husband died, she was an outspoken supporter of Booker T Washington and The National Negro Business League. In 1924, Frances Barrier Williams became the first woman and the first Black American to be named to the Chicago Library Board. Additionally, it is duly noted that Frances was the first Black female to gain membership to the Chicago Woman’s Club . On March 4, 1944, Frances Barrier Williams died after a long illness.She was buried at the Brockport Cemetery on March 14, 1944. In 2014, Suny-College at Brockport named Fannie Barrier Williams Women of Courage Scholarship after her. In 2022, the school renamed their Liberal Arts Building in honor of her, it now being named the Fannie Barrier Williams Liberal Arts Building. The village of Brockport has also designated October 6, 2022 as Fannie Barrier Williams Day.

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE” : GARRY ODELL BLANSON

This Week’s Special Edition Article is on “A Living( former ) Domino’s Pizza Distribution Legend named Garry Odell Blanson!” : Garry was born in Monroe , Louisiana on March 11,1965 to Odell & Mrs Jessie Mae Blanson ; attended school locally{ including some College credits } ; between 1987 - 1988 became an Assistant Manager at Domino’s Pizza in Monroe, Louisiana ; It is “rumored” that between March 1993 and December 1996, Garry sold “OVER 50,000” Domino’s Pizzas( mostly along his pizza routes that ran through all parts of Monroe and West Monroe, Louisiana ) : partnered with Damian L Harris[ aka grave digga ] and 100.1 da’beat at football games , gave freebies to aspiring students like kita Wright ; “delivered pizzas to park view apts” ; arranged for partnership between Domino’s Pizza and the Carroll High Band Parents Concessionstand ; and arranged for the youth of Zion Travelers Baptist Church to have pizza served to them after church on several youth Sundays ; went to eat at a local fast food restaurant and a pizza customer paid for our meal; when Domino’s Pizza got The ULM contract,to sell pizzas at ULM Football games, the Regional Manager sought Garrys help in getting the sales associates to sell more pizzas, while having more fun! Garry Odell Blanson still resides in the City of Monroe, Louisiana. Garry’s has started a buzz in Monroe, Louisiana with his Articles,”OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE.”

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : BENJAMIN BRADLEY

During American Slavery, slaves were sometimes allowed to buy their “FREEDOM!” This Week’s Black Heritage Hero was able to do so in an “unusual fashion.” By using “mere ideas,”Benjamin Bradley was able to take common materials to “Invent,Build,and Sell”his steam-ship inventions, which enabled him to acquire funds for purchasing his “FREEDOM!” According to the Maryland State Manumission records, he bought his freedom for $1,000, and was emancipated from his owner( master ), John T. Hammond, on September 30, 1859, in Anne Arundel, Maryland. Benjamin Bradley[ who was also known as Benjamin Boardley ], was born a slave in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in March 1836. Around the age of 16, young Benjamin showed that he was intelligent and was mechanically inclined when he was able to build a steam engine out of a gun barrel, pewter, round steel, and other materials. His master decided to get him a job working as a helper at the Department of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Of course his master got paid the money that Benjamin earned{ but he did give Benjamin five dollars a month to keep for himself }. Benjamin ‘s professors at the naval academy were very impressed with his work. One of his professors( Professor Hopkins) even got his children to teach Benjamin how to read, write, and do math. While working at the naval academy, he built a steam engine and sold it to a Mid-shipman. With money that he had saved and from the money he got from the sale of his steam engine, he built another steam engine, which he sold to one of his classmates at the naval academy. Finally, with this money,he built “the first steam-powered warship in America!” Since he was a slave, Benjamin wasn’t allowed to apply for a patent of his invention. However, he used the proceeds from the sell of his steam-powered warship to complete the $1,000 dollars needed to buy his “FREEDOM” from his master! Benjamin Bradley died in 1904 and is buried at the Mashpee Town Cemetery in Massachusetts. In closing, I’m flabbergasted when I hear the mainstream media talk about how there is such a shortage of intelligent minded( S.T.E.M. ) young Black Workers & Students in America. Just because they want to use measuring standards that make Blacks appear to be inferior and incapable of handling the job requirements for the high-paying positions that they really don’t want Blacks to have in the first place! Just look what Benjamin Bradley was able to accomplish with “no formal schooling, no college degrees, and very little experience!”

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : CORALIE FRANKLIN COOK

Much has been said and written about Sally (Sarah ) Hemings, the mother of several of Thomas Jefferson’s slave children. However, little is taught in the schools in our Black Communities about Coralie Franklin Cook[ a descendant of the Heming’s family ] or about the Black Women of Monroe, Louisiana who fought for Women’s Suffrage! Coralie Franklin Cook was born in Lexington, Virginia, in March 1861 to Albert Barbour Franklin and Mary Elizabeth Edmondson, who enslaved by a Southern aristocratic family. She attended Storer Normal School where she showed a strong interest in speech and reading. In 1880, Coralie graduated from Storer College{ she is the first known college graduate among the descendants of Jefferson's slaves at Monticello }. After graduating from Storer College, she was hired as an Associate Professor, at Storer College, where she taught speech & english. Around 1884, Coralie and her female colleague, Mary Church Terrell decided to seek employment opportunities in Washington D.C.( in the field of Education ). Coralie went on to serve on the Washington D.C. Board of Education. Additionally, she became became a prominent leader among Elite Negro Women and the Black Women's Club movement. Coralie and Mary were early members of one of the oldest Black women's clubs[ the Colored Women's League of Washington ]. To her credit, Coralie was the only African-American woman invited to give an official statement at Susan B Anthony’s 80th birthday celebration at the Lafayette Opera House in 1900. In her address, Coralie addressed Susan B Anthony directly, stating, "...and so Miss Anthony, in behalf of the hundreds of colored women who wait and hope with you for the day when the ballot shall be in the hands of every intelligent woman; and also in behalf of the thousands who sit in darkness and whose condition we shall expect those ballots to better, whether they be in the hands of white women or Black, I offer you my warmest gratitude and congratulations.” Coralie Franklin Cook was a strong & staunch supporter of Women’s Suffrage. movement. Also, she was an active member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and part of the association's inner circles.   On August 31, 1898, Coralie Franklin married George W Cook a professor and Dean of the school at Howard University. They had one son named George William Cook Jr., and they were married for 33 years until George died on August 20,1931{ Coralie Franklin Cook died in 1942, at 81 years of age }.