Black Business in the New South: A Social History of the NC Mutual Life Insurance Company

by Walter B. Weare

Overview

At the turn of the century, the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company became the "world's largest Negro business." Located in Durham, North Carolina, which was known as the "Black Wall Street of America," this business came to symbolize the ideas of racial progress, self-help, and solidarity in America. Walter B. Weare's social and intellectual history, originally published in 1973 (University of Illinois Press) and updated here to include a new introduction, still stands as the definitive history of black business in the New South. Drawing on a wide range of sources-including personal papers of the company's leaders and oral history interviews-Weare traces the company's story from its ideological roots in the eighteenth century to its economic success in the twentieth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822313380
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	01/27/1993
Series:	Blacks in the New World Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	354
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.74(d)
Lexile:	1600L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Preface vii

List of Tables xii

Introduction to the 1993 Edition xiii

1. The Evolution of Uplift 3

2. The Company with a Soul and a Service 29

3. Survival and Success 50

4. Expansion and Retreat 103

5. The Good Ol' Mutual Spirit 133

6. The Second Survival 154

7. The Company and the Community: The Burden of Race 179

8. The Company and the Community: Politics and Race Relations 211

Epilogue: The Dividends of War 265

Sources 289

Index 305

Editorial Reviews

"A much-needed introduction to the social dynamics of black capitalism. . . . Weare is a careful custodian of the black experience and students of southern and black history will profit from this work."
--Raymond Gavins, "North Carolina Historical Review"

"The best book written on 'black business' in this century."
--Gossie Harold Hudson, "Journal of Southern History"

From the Publisher

**** Reprint of the U. of Illinois Press original (1973) which is cited in BCL3. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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