Brandon K. Winford
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813178257
- eISBN:
- 9780813178264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813178257.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Social Groups
Chapter 2 pivots away from NC Mutual by more closely examining M&F Bank after its establishment and its survival amid the catastrophic collapse that precipitated the Great Depression decade. The ...
More
Chapter 2 pivots away from NC Mutual by more closely examining M&F Bank after its establishment and its survival amid the catastrophic collapse that precipitated the Great Depression decade. The chapter argues that because M&F Bank followed an ethos that engendered a deep commitment to the overall prosperity of the black community, it was in a much better position than most black-owned banks to advocate a return to political participation for the black community. In this way, Durham’s black businesspeople served as stalwart community leaders, which provided a training ground for a younger cadre of well-educated and ready activists. Moreover, they embraced a multidimensional strategy of reciprocity—complicated by gender, class, and intergenerational tensions.Less
Chapter 2 pivots away from NC Mutual by more closely examining M&F Bank after its establishment and its survival amid the catastrophic collapse that precipitated the Great Depression decade. The chapter argues that because M&F Bank followed an ethos that engendered a deep commitment to the overall prosperity of the black community, it was in a much better position than most black-owned banks to advocate a return to political participation for the black community. In this way, Durham’s black businesspeople served as stalwart community leaders, which provided a training ground for a younger cadre of well-educated and ready activists. Moreover, they embraced a multidimensional strategy of reciprocity—complicated by gender, class, and intergenerational tensions.
Brandon K. Winford
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813178257
- eISBN:
- 9780813178264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813178257.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Social Groups
Chapter 3 examines how the legal phase of the civil rights movement came together as World War II ended. It highlights Wheeler’s postwar activism and involvement in the battle for black educational ...
More
Chapter 3 examines how the legal phase of the civil rights movement came together as World War II ended. It highlights Wheeler’s postwar activism and involvement in the battle for black educational equality in North Carolina and the South more broadly. He believed education to be one of the most essential ingredients for achieving the expansion of economic rights. This chapter argues that it was during the postwar period that he articulated his economic vision of New South prosperity to bankers in the Tar Heel State. During the world conflict, M&F Bank purchased war bonds, loaned black farmers money for equipment to support the war effort, and then helped returning black war veterans take advantage of the GI Bill through providing home loans. His embrace of legal tactics helped challenge an unjust educational system that effectively stifled black schoolchildren from learning the skills needed to obtain jobs later. This chapter also explores how Wheeler and others argued for immediate school desegregation directly following the Brown decision.Less
Chapter 3 examines how the legal phase of the civil rights movement came together as World War II ended. It highlights Wheeler’s postwar activism and involvement in the battle for black educational equality in North Carolina and the South more broadly. He believed education to be one of the most essential ingredients for achieving the expansion of economic rights. This chapter argues that it was during the postwar period that he articulated his economic vision of New South prosperity to bankers in the Tar Heel State. During the world conflict, M&F Bank purchased war bonds, loaned black farmers money for equipment to support the war effort, and then helped returning black war veterans take advantage of the GI Bill through providing home loans. His embrace of legal tactics helped challenge an unjust educational system that effectively stifled black schoolchildren from learning the skills needed to obtain jobs later. This chapter also explores how Wheeler and others argued for immediate school desegregation directly following the Brown decision.
Brandon K. Winford
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813178257
- eISBN:
- 9780813178264
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813178257.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Social Groups
This work combines black business and civil rights history to explain how economic concerns shaped the goals and objectives of the black freedom struggle. Brandon K. Winford examines the “black ...
More
This work combines black business and civil rights history to explain how economic concerns shaped the goals and objectives of the black freedom struggle. Brandon K. Winford examines the “black business activism” of banker and civil rights lawyer John Hervey Wheeler (1908–1978). Born on the campus of Kittrell College in Vance County, North Carolina, he came of age in Jim Crow Atlanta, Georgia, where his father became an executive with the world-renowned North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company (NC Mutual). As president of Mechanics and Farmers Bank (M&F Bank), located on Durham’s “Black Wall Street,” Wheeler became the Tar Heel State’s most influential black power broker and among the top civil rights figures in the South.
Winford places Wheeler at the center of his narrative to understand how black business leaders tackled civil rights while continuously pointing to the economy’s larger significance for the success and advancement of the postwar New South. In this way, Wheeler articulated a bold vision of regional prosperity, grounded in full citizenship and economic power for black people. He reminded the white South that its future was inextricably linked to the plight of black southerners. He spent his entire career trying to fulfill these ideals through his institutional and organizational affiliations, as part and parcel of his civil rights agenda.
Winford draws on previously unexamined primary and secondary sources, including newspapers, business records, FBI reports, personal papers, financial statements, presidential files, legal documents, oral histories, and organizational and institutional records.Less
This work combines black business and civil rights history to explain how economic concerns shaped the goals and objectives of the black freedom struggle. Brandon K. Winford examines the “black business activism” of banker and civil rights lawyer John Hervey Wheeler (1908–1978). Born on the campus of Kittrell College in Vance County, North Carolina, he came of age in Jim Crow Atlanta, Georgia, where his father became an executive with the world-renowned North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company (NC Mutual). As president of Mechanics and Farmers Bank (M&F Bank), located on Durham’s “Black Wall Street,” Wheeler became the Tar Heel State’s most influential black power broker and among the top civil rights figures in the South.
Winford places Wheeler at the center of his narrative to understand how black business leaders tackled civil rights while continuously pointing to the economy’s larger significance for the success and advancement of the postwar New South. In this way, Wheeler articulated a bold vision of regional prosperity, grounded in full citizenship and economic power for black people. He reminded the white South that its future was inextricably linked to the plight of black southerners. He spent his entire career trying to fulfill these ideals through his institutional and organizational affiliations, as part and parcel of his civil rights agenda.
Winford draws on previously unexamined primary and secondary sources, including newspapers, business records, FBI reports, personal papers, financial statements, presidential files, legal documents, oral histories, and organizational and institutional records.
