Learn how entrepreneurs and institutions built livelihoods, opportunities and communities.
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Loading image…1957–
William Earl Kennard (born January 19, 1957) is an American attorney and former government official. Kennard served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton, and was the first African…
Loading image…1854–1915
William Lee Taylor (1854 – January 27, 1915), also known as W. L. Taylor, was an American bank president, Baptist minister, teacher, and farmer in Virginia. He served as the Grand Master of the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers (or simply True…
Loading image…1810–1848
William Alexander Leidesdorff Jr. (1810 – May 18, 1848) was an Afro-Caribbean settler in California and one of the founders of the city that became San Francisco. A highly successful, enterprising businessman, he is thought to have been the first black…
Loading image…1866–1950
William Madison McDonald (June 22, 1866 – July 5, 1950), nicknamed "Gooseneck Bill", was an American politician, businessman, and banker of great influence in Texas during the late nineteenth century. Part of the Black and Tan faction, by 1892 he was…
Loading image…1872–1934
William Monroe Trotter, sometimes just Monroe Trotter (April 7, 1872 – April 7, 1934), was an American newspaper editor and real estate businessman based in Boston, Massachusetts. An activist for African-American civil rights, he was an early opponent of…
1879–1945
William Nickerson Jr. (January 26, 1879 – November 14, 1945) was a prominent Los Angeles–based businessman and founder of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, which at one time was the largest black-owned business west of the Mississippi.
1896–1981
Dr. William O. Walker aka W.O. Walker (born William Otis Walker on September 19, 1896 – died October 29, 1981) was an African-American publisher, Cleveland-area politician, and editor of the Call and Post, an African-American newspaper based in Cleveland.…
Loading image…1915–1976
William Pinckney (April 27, 1915 – July 21, 1976) was a United States Navy sailor who was the second African-American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the second-highest decoration for valor in combat after the Medal of Honor. Pinckney received the medal for…
Loading image…1839–1910
William Q. Atwood (January 1, 1839 – December 21, 1910) was a lumber baron in Saginaw, Michigan. Born a slave in Alabama, he was freed in 1853 in the will of his white master and father, and moved to the free state of Ohio. He became active in the…
Loading image…1941–
William Robert Harvey (born January 29, 1941, Brewton, Alabama) is an American educator, academic administrator, and businessman who served as president of Hampton University from 1978 to 2022. He is the longest serving president in the school's history.…
Dates not recorded
William R. Jervey was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era, and then a state senator. His term in office began in 1868 as representative until 1872, then as senator from 1872 until 1876 and he represented…
Loading image…1847–1914
William Reuben Pettiford (January 20, 1847 – September 20, 1914) was a minister and banker in Birmingham, Alabama. Early in his career he worked as a minister and teacher in various towns in Alabama, moving to the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1883 and…
1915–1994
William Ross, a prominent producer and stage manager on Broadway, was born in New York City on 5 September 1915 and died 23 August 1994. He served as vice president of the Actors' Equity Association and the first president of the Stage Managers'…
Loading image…1847–1908
William Saunders Crowdy (August 11, 1847 – August 4, 1908) was an American soldier, preacher, entrepreneur and pastor.
Loading image…1878–1962
William Stanley Beaumont Braithwaite (December 6, 1878 – June 8, 1962) was an Black American writer, poet, literary critic, anthologist, and publisher in the United States. His work as a critic and anthologist was widely praised and important in the…
Loading image…1843–1909
William Thornton Montgomery (February 1843 – July 3, 1909) was an American freedman, businessman, farmer, and community leader, best known for his contributions to agriculture and his advocacy for African American empowerment. The Montgomery family,…
1903–1985
William Venoid Banks (May 6, 1903 – August 24, 1985) was an American lawyer, minister, founder of the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons, and the first president and general manager of WGPR-FM (which became Detroit's first black radio station)…
1866–1928
William V. Chambliss (December 4, 1866 – June 11, 1928) was an American businessperson, land developer, politician, teacher, and planter. Chambliss taught at Tuskegee Institute and was one of the wealthiest African Americans living in Alabama in the 1920s.…
Loading image…1804–1876
William Whipper (February 22, 1804 – March 9, 1876) was a businessman and abolitionist in the United States. Whipper, an African American, advocated nonviolence and co-founded the American Moral Reform Society, an early African-American abolitionist…
1969–
Willie Anthony Banks (born February 27, 1969) is an American former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox. At St.…
1934–2020
Willie Delford Davis (July 24, 1934 – April 15, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). Davis played college football for the Grambling Tigers before being drafted 181st in the 1956…
1947–
Willie E. Gary (born July 12, 1947) is an American trial lawyer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who won multi-million-dollar verdicts against some of the largest corporations in the United States. Gary and his wife Gloria established Martin County's…
1910–1999
Willie Lee Dorothy Campbell Glass (August 24, 1910 – May 2, 1999) was an American academic, consultant, and educator. She was the youngest graduate and first black woman to receive a master’s degree in home economics at Iowa State College of Agriculture…
1939–2022
Willie Lee Morrow (October 9, 1939 – June 22, 2022) was an American barber, businessman and inventor, who worked in the African American haircare industry. He was noted for inventing the Afro pick and developing the forerunner to the Jheri curl hairstyle.
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