What: Watermark Books & Café invites you to attend a virtual author event with local author and WSU's Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor, Dr. Robert E. Weems Jr.! Dr. Weems will join us virtually for a Q&A and discussion of his book The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago—the fascinating life story of an African American trailblazer Anthony Overton and the eventful history of his time.

Where: This is a virtual event and will be hosted online using Zoom Pro Webinar & Facebook Live.

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About the Book


Born to enslaved parents, Anthony Overton became one of the leading African American entrepreneurs of the twentieth century. Overton's Chicago-based empire ranged from personal care products and media properties to insurance and finance. Yet, despite success and acclaim as the first business figure to win the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, Overton remains an enigma.

Robert E. Weems Jr. restores Overton to his rightful place in American business history. Dispelling stubborn myths, he traces Overton's rise from mentorship by Booker T. Washington, through early failures, to a fateful move to Chicago in 1911. There, Overton started a popular magazine aimed at African American women that helped him dramatically grow his cosmetics firm. Overton went on to become the first African American to head a major business conglomerate, only to lose significant parts of his businesses—and his public persona as ”the merchant prince of his race”—in the Depression, before rebounding once again in the early 1940s.

Revealing and panoramic, The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago weaves the fascinating life story of an African American trailblazer through the eventful history of his times.

About Dr. Weems


Dr. Robert E. Weems Jr. is the Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History at Wichita State University. His books include Business in Black and White: American Presidents and Black Entrepreneurs in the Twentieth Century and Building the Black Metropolis: African American Entrepreneurship in Chicago.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020 - 6:00pm
Event address: 
4701 E Douglas Ave
Wichita, KS 67218
Books: 
The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago: Anthony Overton and the Building of a Financial Empire By Robert E. Weems Jr. Cover Image
$41.17
ISBN: 9780252084935
Availability: This book may be unavailable. Please call us for price & availability: (316) 682-1181.
Published: University of Illinois Press - March 9th, 2020