Anthony Overton

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Anthony Overton
Born(1865-03-21)March 21, 1865
DiedJuly 2, 1946(1946-07-02) (aged 81)

Anthony Overton Jr. (March 18, 1864 – July 2, 1946),

African American to lead a major business conglomerate.[2]

Overton owned

Half Century Magazine and then the Chicago Bee.[3] He also owned the Great Northern Realty Company, and the Victory Life Insurance Company.[2]

Early years

Anthony Overton, the son of Anthony and Martha DeBerry Overton, was born in Monroe, Louisiana. There [4] his father operated a grocery and was elected to the Louisiana legislature, serving between 1871 and 1874. At some point before 1880, his family moved from Louisiana to Topeka, Kansas.[5] His father had been born into slavery, and was among the slaves emancipated by Abraham Lincoln.[6] His father ultimately became a small business owner, and made sure young Anthony had greater opportunities. Anthony attended Washburn College in Topeka, and after graduating with a degree in Chemistry,[7] he studied law, earning his legal degree from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1888. He briefly worked as a lawyer, and became a judge in Shawnee, Kansas.[8]

Business career

In 1898, Overton established the Hygienic Manufacturing Company, which produced goods for drug stores and groceries.[9] The products included High Brown Face Powder, which was "the first market success in the sale of cosmetics for black women".[10] In 1911, he moved his business from Kansas to Chicago.[11] Overton also opened a grocery store in Kansas City, Kansas by the late 1890s.[12]

In 1916 he established

Harmon award's first award and Gold medal in Business. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[16] In addition, there is an elementary school in Chicago that is named after him.[17]

After Overton's death in 1946, the Bee was briefly continued by his sons in a tabloid format.[18] It folded in 1947.[19]

See also

  • African-American business history

Notes

  1. ^ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3K6-Z51
  2. ^ a b Harvard Business School. American Business Leaders of the Twentieth Century: Anthony Overton
  3. ^ a b Mahoney 2001, p. 70.
  4. ^ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87X-V2V
  5. ^ Hazel L. Briggs. "Hold Funeral Rights for Anthony Overton." Kansas City (KS) Plaindealer, July 12, 1946, p. 1.
  6. ^ "Obituary: Anthony Overton Sr." (Lawrence KS) Western Recorder, April 18, 1884, p.3.
  7. ^ "Anthony Overton Obituary." Chicago Bee, July 14, 1946, p. 4.
  8. ^ "Interesting People: From Peddler to Banker." Chicago Metro News, August 20, 1988, p. 9.
  9. ^ "Hopeful Signs." (Topeka KS) Plaindealer, June 20, 1900, p. 1.
  10. ^ Walker, p. 7.
  11. ^ "Good Banking Speaks for Itself." Chicago Courier, November 15, 1975, p. 1
  12. ^ "Kansas City." (Topeka KS) Plaindealer, December 15, 1899, p. 1.
  13. JSTOR 10.5406/j.ctvxkn5wn
    .
  14. ^ Lash, p. 189.
  15. ^ Lester E. Brown. "Anthony Overton: Man of Ideas." Chicago Bee, July 14, 1946, p. 4.
  16. ^ Journal of Negro History, p. 394.
  17. ^ Lou Palmer. "Do You Know the Schools Named for Relevant Blacks?" Chicago Metro News, January 28, 1978, p. 3.
  18. ^ Trodd 2011, p. 458.
  19. ^ Grant & Grant 2013, p. 47.

References

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