W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1993 R C Scott: A history of African-American entrepreneurship in Richmond, 1890-1940 Michael A. Plater College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the African History Commons, American Studies Commons, and the Economic History Commons Recommended Citation Plater, Michael A., "R C Scott: A history of African-American entrepreneurship in Richmond, 1890-1940" (1993). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623839. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-z1c7-ev04 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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SCOTT: A HISTORY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN RICHMOND 1890-1940 A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the American Studies Program The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Michael A. Plater 1993 APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degre of Doctor of Philosophy Approved, December 1993 Chandos Brown, Chair American studies American studies i/I!Jiam~ Economics James Ho ton George Washington University ii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my mother, Mrs. Veida Freeman Claytor, whose guidance and constant support inspired me throughout my educational career. iii ---- ---- ----· TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. .v PREFACE •.•....• .vii LIST OF TABLES. .xi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. .xiii ABSTRACT ....• .xiv INTRODUCTION. .. 2 CHAPTER I. RICHMOND AFRO-AMERICAN FUNERAL HOME DIRECTORS • .•...........•••••••.•••.•...•.• 11 CHAPTER II. THE HISTORY OF FUNERAL DIRECTING IN AMERICA • ••••.•••••.••••••••••••••••• 0 0 0 71 CHAPTER III. THE ORIGIN OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN DEATH AND MOURNING RITUALS.............. ..104 CHAPTER IV. FOLK BELIEFS AND CURRENT PRACTICES. .133 CHAPTER V. AFRO-AMERICAN INSURANCE ENTERPRISES. .164 CHAPTER VI. THE FUNERAL OF BROTHER JESSE HARDING. .191 CONCLUSION. .202 APPENDIX A. .211 BIBLIOGRAPHY. .224 VITA ........ .238 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to express my appreciation to the chair, Chandos Brown, under whose guidance I conducted this investigation, for his patient guidance and criticism throughout the investigation. The author is also indebted to Robert Gross, William Hausman, Ronald Sims, and Robert Horton for their careful reading and criticism of the manuscript as members of the dissertation committee. I received critical support from the administration and faculty at the School of Business Administration. I extend a special appreciation to John Jamison whose support of this project was unwavering. on the Business School faculty, Don Rahtz, Larry Ring, William stewart, Hector Guerrero, Robert Johnson, Richard Flood, James Haltiner, James Olver, and Todd Mooradian were especially generous with their insights and counsel. Many individuals in the Richmond community influenced my writing. The most important members were John Tyson, Librarian for the State of Virginia; the late Anthony Binga from the R.C. Scott Funeral Home; and Reginald Dyson from the A. D. Price Funeral Home. I also extend my thanks to Mrs. Anthony Binga and to Ms. Elaine Nichols of the South carolina state Museum for taking time out of their schedules to talk with me. v In her role as a friend, co-worker, fellow student, and editor, I offer my deep appreciation to Teresa Nugent. Her help, encouragement, and criticism since the beginning of this project established a great foundation for each chapter. However, I reserve my greatest thanks for my wife, Cassandra, and our two children, Michael Andre II and Allister Pilar, who allowed me to steal the time from our home to pursue this undertaking. I hope the completion of this document will provide inspiration for my children and a normal lifestyle for my wife. vi Preface on February 11, 1993 Arthur Ashe was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The Washington Post described this historically African-American cemetery as a "dumping ground for appliances, tires and other trash" and ten weeks after the funeral they noted "dandelions are springing up in the uncut grass around Ashe's grave. 11 (The Washington Post 1993, 30 April) Arthur Ashe, the first African-American man to win the Wimbledon tennis championship, requested burial in this cemetery to highlight the social conditions of African­ Americans in Richmond. His grave site provides a visual image of the decline of many financial, economic, and cultural institutions built by African Americans in the early twentieth-century. Until 1970, the privately-owned cemeteries of Woodland and Evergreen were the only places available for African­ American burials in Richmond. The city-operated cemeteries remained segregated until well over a century after slaves became free in America (The Washington Post 1993, 30 April). These two cemeteries were the pride of the African-American community for nearly one hundred years. John Mitchell, city council member and editor of the Richmond Planet, was a president of the Woodland cemetery, and funeral director A. D. Price served as the president of Evergreen Cemetery from 1917 until his death in 1921. As the African-American community vii gained greater burial options after 1970, however, these venerated institutions declined into the wretched state observed at the time of Arthur Ashe's burial. Ashe's decision to join John Jasper, Maggie Walker, and others at Woodland Cemetery was a tribute to the past leaders and institutions of Richmond's African-American community. The vitality of Woodland and Evergreen cemeteries in the Richmond Community depended on their segregated status. During the turn of the century, these cemeteries, along with many other social organizations, businesses, and institutions, formed a circulatory system in the community. This system kept the Richmond African-American community alive and warded off the deplorable conditions imposed by racism. This paper proposes to look at the economic center of this circulatory system and develop a pattern of analysis for investigating similar systems during the first half of the twentieth-century. The paper argues that the funeral industry was this economic center and uses the funeral director as the model for African-American entrepreneurship during the study period. I believe this paper contributes to the scho.larly conversation about African-American business in southern cities, the role of business in African-American urban society, and the issues of class and social relations within African-American communities in the following four areas. 1) Previous investigations on early African-American viii entrepreneurship centered on individual entrepreneurs and the special circumstances surrounding their success. This study defines successful African-American entrepreneurial traits and argues that each community had one or more individuals exhibiting these traits. The individuals possessing these traits gained elite status in both the African-American and white communities of their respective cities. By looking at an industry and a set of entrepreneurial traits that were present in all communities, this analysis provides a system to compare entrepreneurs, elite status, and race relations across communities. 2) The current studies of business history typically focus on organizational accomplishments, managerial evolution, and the impact of