African-American Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs is a concise reference work that documents the extraordinary achievements of African Americans in this field. Some African Americans covered include: Don Barden: Real estate speculator, automotive dealer, cable executive, and casino owner; William Washington Browne: Founder of a fraternal organization and banker; Emma Chappell: Banker and executive director of RAINBOW/PUSH's Wall Street Project; Andrew Durnford: sugar planter and land speculator; Mel Farr: Professional football player and automotive entrepreneur; Elizabeth Keckley: Seamstress and dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln; Thomy Lafon: Businessman, philanthropist, real estate broker, and store owner; Vera Moore: Cosmetics manufacturer; Russell Simmons: Music and media executive; Madame C.J. Walker: Hair-care products manufacturer; Oprah Winfrey: Talk show host, actress, television and film producer and publisher; and many others.
Offering a wealth of useful information, this book profiles more than 155 business leaders and entrepreneurs. Each biographical entry concentrates on the events in that person's life related to his or her accomplishments as a business leader or entrepreneur and includes a list of further reading on that person. An introduction, bibliography, subject indexes, general index, and 51 photographs round out the resource.

For as long as there have been blacks in the Americas, there have been African-American entrepreneurs. Before the Civil War, free people of color worked as artisans, tavernkeepers, and in many other jobs. Enslaved African Americans could be found doing everything from managing plantations and trading goods on behalf of their owners to conducting their own trade. A small but significant number of African Americans even owned slaves of their own. After the Civil War, African Americans founded enterprises to serve their own community—from funeral parlors and newspapers to companies that manufactured beauty products. Later in the 20th century, African Americans founded new types of businesses and also rose to the top of the corporate hierarchies in a number of industries, heading such internationally famous companies as American Express and AOL Time Warner.
African-American Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs explores black participation in the business world. It conveys a sense of the reach and scope of black enterprise by profiling more than 150 individuals from every era of U.S. history, including many women and unusual figures as well as those representative of more mainstream African-American business. This comprehensive reference offers both a wide range of individual "snapshots" and a diverse collective portrait of African Americans who have succeeded in business. Each A-to-Z entry provides basic biographical data as well as a further reading list, including Internet sources where appropriate. A general bibliography, two subject indexes (one by type of business, one by year of birth), a general index, and approximately 50 black-and-white photographs are also featured to enhance the resource's reference value.
Profiles include:
Don Barden: real estate speculator, automotive dealer, cable executive, casino owner
William Washington Browne: founder of fraternal organization, banker
Emma Chappell: banker, executive director of RAINBOW/PUSH's Wall Street Project
Elizabeth Keckley: seamstress, dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln
Thomy Lafon: businessman, philanthropist
Vera Moore: cosmetics manufacturer
Russell Simmons: music and media executive
Madame C. J. Walker: hair-care products manufacturer
Oprah Winfrey: television talk show host, actress, television and film producer, publisher
and many others.