Skip Navigation Links and Jump to Page Content  The Library of Congress >> Especially for Researchers >> Research Centers
Business Reference Services (Science, Technology, and Business Division)
  Home >> African American Business Resources

African-Americans in Business

Selected Titles

Compiled by Angela Wilson and Joseph Sams
Business Reference Services. Science, Technology, and Business Division

Library of Congress, Washington, DC
February 2000

This guide was compiled to accompany a small exhibit mounted in the Business Reading Room of the Science Technology & Business Division of the Library of Congress in February and March 2000 in honor of Black History Month 2000 and focuses on selected print resources in the Library of Congress illustrating the development of black business in the United States. The guide is arranged alphabetically by author or other main entry.


Author/Title Listing | LC Subject Headings

Author/Title Listing

  • African Americans in business : the path towards empowerment : essays on black entrepreneurship from the African background to the present : 73rd national celebration of Afro-American history / Larry L. Martin, editor-in-chief ... [et al.]. Washington, D.C. : Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, Inc., c1998. 2 v. : ill. ; 28 cm.
    LC Call Number: HD2344.5.U6A37 1998
    LC Control Number: 99209689
    This two-volume set contains essays and a learning resource package on Black entrepreneurship from slavery to present day. Volume one contains essays that highlight topics such as Black business activities, leadership, women, corporate America, and future prospects. Access is by table of contents and chapter headings. Volume two is a learning resource package designed to supplement volume one. Part one of volume two contains suggested learning activities and classroom activities accessible by subject sections. Part two of volume two contains teaching strategies and lessons for elementary through secondary levels.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Black worker.
    Black workers : a documentary history from colonial times to the present / edited by Philip S. Foner and Ronald L. Lewis. Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 1989. xv, 733 p. ; 24 cm.
    LC Call Number: HD8081.A65B55 1989
    LC Control Number: 88029591

    This volume is a comprehensive publication on the history of black workers from the colonial era to the present. Detailed information is provided on Black workers in history, categorized by sequential eras. A selected bibliography is provided. Access is by table of contents and index.

    Table of Contents    |    Index    |   Catalog record

  • Bocage, Aaron.
    Making money the old-fashioned way : a story of Black entrepreneurship / by Aaron Bocage and George Waters. Camden, NJ (313 Market St., Camden 08102) : EDTEC, Inc., c1997. 110 p. : ill. (some col.), map ; 28 cm.
    LC Call Number: HD2344.5.U6B63 1997
    LC Control Number: 98136278
    This volume offers a historical overview of Black entrepreneurs in the United States. It relates the influence of slavery upon the history of Black entrepreneurship, lists important dates in Black business history, and provides information on contemporary Black entrepreneurs and top business firms. Access is by subject. Separate indexes are provided for information on Black youth entrepreneurship and national Black business related organizations in support of entrepreneurship.

    Table of Contents     |     Catalog record

  • Cross, Theodore L., 1924-
    Black capitalism; strategy for business in the ghetto [by] Theodore L. Cross. New York, Atheneum, 1969. xii, 274 p. 25 cm.
    LC Call Number: E185.8.C9
    LC Control Number: 72080268
    Discusses the philosophical basis behind Black capitalism.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Dingle, Derek T.
    Black enterprise titans of the B.E. 100s : black CEOs who redefined and conquered American business / Derek T. Dingle. New York : J. Wiley, c1999. xvi, 238 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
    LC Call Number: HD38.25.U6D56 1999
    LC Control Number: 98051031
    This book was prepared under the auspices of Black Enterprise, a premier African American business magazine designed to provide information and resources to help African Americans achieve their business goals. The volume details the success stories and ideas of eleven African American business leaders who have led some of the top 100 Black Enterprise ranked companies, both past and present. Access is by personal name, corporate business title, and index.

    Table of Contents     |     Publisher's Description     |     Author biographical data (publisher-supplied)     |    Catalog record

  • Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963, ed.
    The Negro in business; report of a social study made under the direction of Atlanta University, together with the proceedings of the fourth Conference for the Study of the Negro Problems, held at Atlanta University, May 30-31, 1899. New York, AMS Press [1971] 77 p. 23 cm.
    LC Call Number: E185.8.D83 1971
    LC Control Number: 70153098
    First organized effort to observe and analyze the development of Black Americans in business.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Economic census : characteristics of business owners. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of the Census : For Sale by Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O.,
    Online edition: 1992
    Online edition: 2002
    LC Call Number (1992 edition): HC106.8.A148 1997
    LC Control Number (1992 edition): 98128230
    Provides basic economic, demographic, and sociological data on the characteristics of minority, women, and non-minority business owners.

    Catalog record (1992 edition)

  • Economic census. Survey of minority-owned business enterprises. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census : For sale by Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O.,
    Online edition: 1997
    See also: The State of Minority Business (1997 SMOBE) : An Initial Analysis...
    LC Call Number (1992 edition) : HD2346.U5E269 1996
    LC Call Number: (1997 edition) : HD2346.U5 E269 2001
    LC Control Number (1992 edition): 96141790
    LC Control Number (1997 edition) : 2001330031
    Comprehensive survey data on minority businesses. First introduced as special project in 1969 and incorporated into the 1972 Economic Census. Prior to this time, such data on Black business owners was basically nonexistent.

    Catalog record (1992 edition)
    Catalog Record (1997 edition)

  • Frazier, Edward Franklin, 1894-1962.
    The Negro in the United States. New York, Macmillan Co., 1949. xxxiii, 767 p. illus., maps. 22 cm.
    LC Call Number: E185.F833
    LC Control Number: 49002984
    Looks at institutional development within the Black American community.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Gravely, Melvin J.
    The black entrepreneur's guide to success / Melvin J. Gravely, II ; [edited by Apryl Motley]. Edgewood, Md. : Duncan & Duncan, c1995. v, 214 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
    LC Call Number: HD62.7.G717 1995
    LC Control Number: 95067017
    Outlines steps to business empowerment from self-preparation to structuring a business.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Harmon, John Henry.
    The Negro as a business man, by J. H. Harmon, Jr., Arnett G. Lindsay, and Carter G. Woodson. College Park, Md., McGrath Pub. Co. [1969, c1929] v, 111 p. 24 cm.
    LC Call Number: E185.8.H25 1969
    LC Control Number: 69017086
    Initial treatise by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History on the assessment of the prevalent situation regarding Negro businessmen.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Ingham, John N.
    African-American business leaders : a biographical dictionary / John N. Ingham and Lynne B. Feldman. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, c1994. xiv, 806 p. ; 25 cm.
    LC Call Number: HC102.5.A2I52 1994
    LC Control Number: 93020430
    This collection contains the comprehensive biographies of 123 African American business leaders in seventy-seven separate biographical entries. Focus is placed on the most historically significant Black business leaders from America's early period to present day. Each biography highlights the relevant cultural, economic, and social issues faced by each leader. Access is by alphabetical order and index. Also provided are appendixes listing place of birth, principle place of business, type of business, and women business leaders. A bibliographic essay is also provided.

    TAble of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Joyce, Donald F.
    Gatekeepers of black culture : black-owned book publishing in the United States, 1817-1981 / Donald Franklin Joyce. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1983. xiv, 249 p. ; 22 cm.
    LC Call Number: Z471.J69 1983
    LC Control Number: 82009227
    This is a publication on Black book publishers during the period of 1817-1981. This study focuses on the pioneer Black book publishers, the growth of Black book publishing from 1900 through 1959, developments between 1960 and 1974, and provides executive comments on the state of Black book publishing in 1981. Access is by table of contents, author index, and name and subject index. Also provided are graphs, tables, profiles of publishers and printers, and a comprehensive bibliography.

    Table of Contents    |    Index    |   Catalog record

  • Myrdal, Gunnar, 1898-
    An American dilemma : the Negro problem and modern democracy / Gunnar Myrdal ; with a new introduction by Sissela Bok. New Brunswick, NJ : Transaction Publishers, c1996. 2 v. : ill. ; 23 cm.
    LC Call Number: E185.6.M95 1996
    LC Control Number: 95031355
    Nobel prize winning work on the problems facing Black businessmen.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Schweninger, Loren.
    Black property owners in the South, 1790-1915 / Loren Schweninger. Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1997. xvii, 426 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.
    LC Call Number: E185.8.S39 1997
    LC Control Number: 97158808
    Traces beginnings of Black land ownership among Africans, free Negro business owners, affluent free Persons of Color, and Southern Blacks.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Statistical record of Black America. Detroit : Gale Research, c1990-c1997. 4 v. : ill. ; 29 cm.
    LC Call Number: E185.5.S83
    LC Control Number: 91640012
    Tables covering various subjects including business and economics to include Black-owned business characteristics.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Swinton, David H.
    The determinants of the growth of black owned businesses : a preliminary analysis / David H. Swinton, John Handy. Atlanta, Ga. : Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy, Clark College, 1984. xxiii, 129 p. ; 28 cm.
    LC Call Number: HD2346.U5S98 1984
    LC Control Number: 84603120
    A study on the impact of physical segregation on Black business growth.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • Try us. [Minneapolis, National Minority Business Campaign] v. ill. 28 cm.
    LC Call Number: HD2346.U5N34
    LC Control Number: 79642814
    A national minority business directory.

    Catalog record

  • Walker, Juliet E. K., 1940-
    Free Frank : a Black pioneer on the antebellum frontier / Juliet E.K. Walker. Lexington, Ky. : University Press of Kentucky, c1983. xii, 223 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
    LC Call Number: F460.N4F728 1983
    LC Control Number: 82040181
    Discusses one of the earliest pioneers of Black entrepreneurship.

    Table of Contents    |    Index    |   Catalog record

  • Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915.
    The Negro in business. New York, AMS Press [1971] 379 p. illus., ports. 18 cm.
    LC Call Number: HD8081.A65W37 1971
    LC Control Number: 71144699
    Focuses on business as a way of life for young Black males. Contrast to DuBois' scientific analysis in his work by the same title.

    Table of Contents   |   Catalog record

  • William Monroe Trotter Institute.
    Overview of Black-owned businesses in the United States in the 1990s : a report of the William Monroe Trotter Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Boston Massachusetts. Boston : The Institute, [1996] 14 leaves ; 29 cm.
    LC Call Number: HD2346.U5W549 1996
    LC Control Number: 97118177
    Through tables, summarizes major characteristics of Black-owned businesses in the U.S.

    Table of Contents    |    Sources Cited    |   Catalog record

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Additional works in the Library of Congress on African-Americans in business may be identified by searching the Online Catalog under appropriate Library of Congress subject headings.

The following linked subject headings display entries from the Library of Congress Online Catalog that appear under the heading. You may also go directly to the online catalog to enter the subject heading and search the catalog directly.

Top of Page Top of Page
  Home >> African American Business Resources
  The Library of Congress >> Especially for Researchers >> Research Centers
   June 14, 2007
Contact Us:  
Ask a Librarian