Calvin E. Lightner

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Calvin E. Lightner c. 1950

Calvin Esau Lightner (March 31, 1878 – May 21, 1960) was an American architect, building contractor, and mortician. He was born in South Carolina and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, to study architectural design at Shaw University. After graduation he took industrial courses at Hampton Institute and studied embalming in Tennessee. He and his brother established the C. E. Lightner and Brothers construction company and built numerous homes for members of Raleigh's black middle class.

Lightner established the first

Mayor of Raleigh
in 1973. Most of Lightner's building projects no longer exist.

Early life and education

Calvin Lightner was born on March 31, 1878, in Winnsboro, South Carolina, United States,[1] to Frank and Daphney Lightner.[2] His father had been born into slavery and following emancipation farmed and worked as a carpenter, building homes in Chester. His mother had been born as a free person of color. His maternal grandfather, Joseph Thompson, served in the South Carolina General Assembly during Reconstruction. According to census records, Frank was illiterate whereas Daphney could read. Daphney and her children were classified as mulatto in the 1880 United States census.[1]

Lightner attended grade school in Winnsboro before moving to Chester. He briefly worked as a carpenter's apprentice under his father.[3] He moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1898 and enrolled at Shaw University,[4] studying architectural design. He graduated in 1908[3] with a Bachelor of Science. He furthered his education with industrial courses at Hampton Institute. He married Mamie A. Blackmon, a fellow student at Hampton and a Raleigh home economics teacher on July 7, 1909, in Wake County. They had four children: Calvin, Lawrence, Clarence, and Margaret. In that year he completed embalming school in Nashville, Tennessee.[1]

Career

By 1906, Lightner had established the construction company of C. E. Lightner and Brothers in Raleigh with his brother Rayford. In 1907 he designed and built his own home in Raleigh. Upon graduation from Shaw, he served as an assistant teacher in the university's industrial shop for a year. His construction company proceeded to erect numerous homes for members of the black middle class in the east and southeast portions of the city. He also built at least one home for a white client in Boylan Heights. Various sources state that Lightner did all his own drawings and blueprints for his projects. His company used wooden trusses instead of steel in its buildings.[1]

Lightner Arcade and Hotel

Following his graduation from college, Lightner worked as a mortician's apprentice before establishing his own

undertakers association.[9] During the Colored North Carolina State Fair, a group of undertakers met and formed such an association, electing Lightner its president.[10] In the 1920s he established the private Hillcrest Cemetery for Raleigh's black residents on family property along Garner Road.[1]

Lightner was a member of the

poverty relief committee, the Negro New Bern Relief Commission.[14]

Lightner Funeral Home in Raleigh following 2023 fire

In 1921 Lightner built the Lightner Arcade and Hotel across the street from the Lightner Building, later joking that he decided to erect it after his wife had complained that he hosted too many friends from out of town at their home.[6] The arcade quickly became a center of social activity for Raleigh's black community, and was considered one of the best hotels for black clientele along the East Coast of the United States.[15] During its existence it was one of two hotels in Raleigh that would accept black customers[1] and hosted musicians Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington.[16] The building also housed a restaurant, drug store, barbershop, and the offices of The Carolinian.[15] Lightner also heavily remodeled Davie Street Presbyterian Church in 1922,[17] where he became a parishioner,[4] and in 1921 constructed the Mechanics and Farmers Bank Building in Durham.[1] The following year he built a Mechanics and Farmers branch building on East Hargett Street in Raleigh.[1][18] Lightner and his brother sold the hotel in May 1925 to the Household of Ruthfor $108,000.[19] In the 1930s he created the Wake County Burial League to sell burial insurance.[20] In 1941 Lightner purchased the Capehart House and moved his funeral home there.[21] He retired the following year.[3] In 1959 he gave control of his funeral home to his son, Clarence.[13]

Later life and legacy

Lightner died on May 21, 1960, at

Mayor of Raleigh in 1973.[16] His family home was demolished in 1990. By 2020, most of Lightner's buildings were no longer extant, with the notable exceptions of Davie Street Presbyterian Church and the Mechanics and Farmers Bank Building in Durham.[1] The Lightner Funeral Home was sold in 2022 and heavily damaged by fire the following year.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bishir, Catherine W.; Harpe, Jason (2020). "Lightner, C. E." North Carolina Architects & Builders : A Biographical Dictionary. North Carolina State University Libraries. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Bunch-Lyons 2015, p. 62.
  3. ^ a b c Veale, Bill (November 11, 1950). "C. E. Lightner Is Honored Raleigh Business Pioneer". The Carolinian. Vol. XXIX, no. 49. p. 7.
  4. ^ a b c "C. E. Lightner, Builder And Mortician Is Buried". The Carolinian. Vol. 19, no. 33. May 28, 1960. pp. 1–2.
  5. ^ Bunch-Lyons 2015, pp. 61–62.
  6. ^ a b c d Mills, Beverly (February 28, 1982). "East Hargett Street was center of black life and business". The News & Observer. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  7. ^ "Lightner Funeral Home Operates Modern Business". The Carolina Times. Vol. 21, no. 32. August 10, 1940. p. 7.
  8. ^ a b c d Woltz, Rebecca (February 26, 2020). "Off the beaten path: Pope House Museum". The Warren Record. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  9. ^ "Colored Undertakers to Organize Association". Salisbury Evening Post. October 21, 1912. p. 8.
  10. ^ "Negro Undertakers Form Organization". Salisbury Evening Post. October 26, 1912. p. 1.
  11. ^ Zogry 2008, pp. 206–208.
  12. ^ Zogry 2008, p. 213.
  13. ^ a b Bunch-Lyons 2015, p. 64.
  14. ^ "Colored New Bern Relief Is Organized". The News & Observer. December 10, 1922. p. 11.
  15. ^ a b Kulikowski & Peters 2002, p. 52.
  16. ^ a b Christensen, Rob (November 10, 2017). "When Raleigh elected a black mayor". The News & Observer. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  17. ^ East Raleigh-South Park Historic District 1990, section 7, page 12.
  18. ^ "Two Story Building Collapses At Raleigh". The Bee. August 8, 1922. p. 9.
  19. ^ "Household of Ruth Pays $108,000 For Home In North Car". The New York Age. May 30, 1925. p. 3.
  20. ^ "Pays But 50c in Ass'n, Gets $100 Burial". The Pittsburgh Courier. February 4, 1933. p. 4.
  21. ^ East Raleigh-South Park Historic District 1990, section 7, page 112.
  22. ^ Leonard, Teresa (October 27, 2017). "Downtown Raleigh fire one for the history books". The News & Observer. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  23. ^ Leah, Heather (August 8, 2023). "Losing Black history: Major fire destroys segregation-era funeral home near Shaw University in Raleigh". WRAL-TV. Capitol Broadcasting Company. Retrieved August 13, 2023.

Works cited

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