Biography · Business & Enterprise
Warren Clay Coleman
1849–1904
United States
Loading image…Biography
Warren Clay Coleman (May 25, 1849 – May 24, 1904) was an African-American businessman in south-central North Carolina known as a founder of the Coleman Manufacturing Company, which built one of the first black-owned and operated textile mills in the United States. The Coleman-Franklin-Cannon Mill still stands in Concord, North Carolina, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. Born into slavery, Coleman learned shoemaking and barbering before he came of age as a freedman.
Sources & collection details
Wikipedia contributors — original record ↗
Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13
Continue exploring Series 1
Slavery, Resistance & Freedom →Business & Enterprise →Everyday Life & Community →
Explore all Series 1 cards →