Mary Ellen Pleasant was a maid during the Gold Rush in San Francisco. She learned about investing from eavesdropping on conversations of rich white gold miners. She earned close to $1 billion by today’s standards, and used her riches to help fight slavery.
Robert Reed Church, Sr. was captured by Union soldiers and abandoned in Memphis, TN, where he opened several businesses and investments. He used his wealth to save Memphis when yellow fever drove the city to ruin.
Annie Turnbo-Malone created the first non-damaging hair straightener for Black hair. She donated much of her wealth to HBCUs and countless other charities.
Madam C J Walker was working as a laundry maid in St. Louis when she met her mentor Annie Turnbo-Malone. Walker’s sales ability and recipes for scalp health brought her fortune and acclaim. She worked tirelessly to enact anti-lynching legislation and donated generously to HBCUs and other charities.
O.W. Gurley founded Tulsa Oklahoma’s Black Wall Street for our people seeking to leave the south after slavery. Though Black Wall Street was burned to the ground during one of the most violent riots in history, Gurley’s vision proved when Black dollars are invested in our communities, we thrive.