A great proportion of the individuals that I interviewed—whether they were former debutantes, leading physicians, or powerful Fortune 500 executives—initially expressed a desire to remain anonymous. While ultimately most of them finally agreed to speak to me on the record, many of them insisted that whites and blacks of a different class would attack them for acknowledging the accomplishments of their families or of themselves. Many had been raised to apologize for their success and for their ambition, even though equally accomplished relatives had preceded them by several generations. While they willingly spoke about success among their black colleagues who participated in their ninety-year-old fraternities, cotillions, social clubs, or summer resort activities, they remarked that such discussion was unwelcome among outsiders. The older of my subjects—particularly those who grew up in southern segregated towns—feared that such discussion would cause whites to take away their property—as was done to the Church family in Memphis and other individuals in various cities. The younger of my subjects worried that the urban black poor would label them “sellouts” or “Uncle Toms” simply because they had gained academic and financial success. Such is the ambivalence of growing up with a foot in two worlds.
From the time of Madam C. J. Walker, the nation’s first self-made female millionaire, through the one hundred years that followed, there have been hundreds of “black elite stories” filled with triumph and tragedy. Each story serves to inform us that generalizations about black people and black elite people cannot be made.
While some members of the black elite have occasionally engaged in such divisive behavior as placing too much emphasis on family lineage, membership in certain clubs, and complexion—even to the extent of passing for white—the group has, since its beginnings in the 1870s, celebrated one important thing: contributing to American culture. It is a group that values intellect, success, and tradition. And while they may have arrived in this country as slaves or free men and women from Africa, the West Indies, or Europe, their accomplishments and contributions were achieved on American soil. Making the climb from slavery and blatant discrimination to wealth and achievement is what the promise of America is supposed to be about. The families of the black elite embody the best of the American dream. For this reason, the story of the black upper class is a story of America.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
One of the greatest challenges of writing a book about a group as insular as the black upper class is gaining access to the key individuals who can offer insight into the families, social clubs, and institutions that have quietly, yet decidedly, shaped the group’s long history. Even though I grew up belonging to many of the black organizations that are described in the book, and although I sought the assistance of many archives and library collections, the core of my research was gathered from the individuals who know, or are related to, the many families that I’ve profiled.
To gain this access over the last several years, I needed to rely on family members, childhood friends, professional colleagues, and others who opened their address books and combed through personal records, clipping files, past guest lists, and current social organization membership rosters. I am immensely grateful to all of these people, and I am sorry that I can name only a few of them here.
In Atlanta, I was particularly aided by Dr. Asa Yancey, Marge Dunbar Yancey, Eloise Murphy Milton, Eleanor Milton Johnson, Ella Gaines Yates, Portia Scott, Keith Chaplin, Teresa Artis, Lisa Cooper, Stephen Gura, Jeannie Goldie Gura, Teresa Wiltz, Yvonne Jackson Wiltz, Joy San Walker Brown, Janice White Sikes of the Auburn Avenue Library on African American Culture, and Dr. Carole Merritt of the Herndon Home.
In Detroit, much help was offered by Judge Damon Keith, Mary Agnes Miller Davis, Deborah Fitzgerald Copeland, Robin Hamilton Sowell, Joseph Brown, Michael Goodin, Leslie Hosey, Nancy Tappes Glover, Albert Thomas, Marian Thomas, Vincent Thomas, and Marguerite Gritenas.
In Chicago, many personal accounts were provided by Truman K. Gibson Jr., Dempsey Travis, Maudelle Bousfield Evans, Theresa Fambro Hooks, Dr. James Jones, Jetta Norris Jones, Ronnie Rone Hartfield, Eleanor Chatman, Charles Montgomery, Dedra Davis, Vivian Durham, Fern Jarrett, and Vernon Jarrett.
In Washington, D.C., a great deal of information was provided by Marjorie Holloman Parker, Benaree Pratt Wiley, ViCurtis Hinton, Bebe Drew Price, Alice Randall, Carolyn Syphax-Young, Charlotte Schuster Price, Alberta Campbell Colbert, Cynthia Mitchell, Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Dr. Joan Payne, Dr. Alethia L. Spraggins, Savanna Clark, Paul Thornell, Paquita Attaway, Ersa Poston, and Adele Logan Alexander.
In my parents’ hometown of Memphis, I was able to spend many hours with Ronald and Marianne Walter, who serve as a bridge between old and new society with their ties to Jack and Jill, the Links, the Junior League, and so many other organizations in that city. Others who gave of their time during my many visits and phone calls were Frances Hayes, Alma Roulhac Booth, Dr. James Ford, Barbara Ford Branch, Shelly Branch, Erma Clanton, Alex Coleman, Erma Lee Laws, H. Arthur Gilliam, Earl Douglas, Dr. Anita L. Jackson, Rita Stotts, Blanche Edwards, Dr. William H. Sweet, Margaret Mayfield Rivers, Calvin Walk, Keith McGhee, Ralph White, my cousins Addie Griffin Owen, Anna Griffin Morton, and Dr. Angela Owen Terry, and my dear Uncle Leotha and Aunt Earlene, who knew practically everyone who ever graduated from Booker T. Washington High School.
In Los Angeles, I was given special assistance by Ivan Houston, Jewel Cobb, Thomas Shropshire, Teresa Clarke, Phyllis Campbell Alexander, James Bond, Heather Bond Bryant, and Bernard Kinsey.
For the history and families of Philadelphia, I was helped immensely by Gwynne Wright, Boyd Carney Johnson, Dr. Nellie Gordon Roulhac, Ellie Dejoie Jenkins, Norman Jenkins, Dr. Melvin Jackson Chisum, and Valaida Walker.
To collect data on Nashville, New Orleans, and Tuskegee, guidance came from Patsy Campbell Petway, George Busby, Rose Busby, Gail Busby, Corinne Schuster, Leatrice McKissack, Viola King, Alice Randall, Dr. James Norris, and Marian Taylor.
In the New York City area, the place I call home, I received an immense amount of help from longtime society columnist from the Amsterdam News Cathy Lightbourne Connors, Dr. James “Rump” Jones, Ada Fisher Jones, Dr. George Branche, Dr. Matthew Branche, Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, Dr. Moran Weston, Alvin Hudgins, John and Ernesta Forster Procope, Harold and Helena Doley, and my mentor, Percy Sutton.
When it came to my discussions of the famous black resort areas in Martha’s Vineyard, Sag Harbor, and elsewhere, I was assisted greatly by Chester and Gladys Redhead, George and Mary Gardner Lopez, Alelia Nelson, William Pickens, Adrienne Lopez Dudley, restaurateur Barbara Smith, Dr. Thomas Day, Barbara Brannen, Judy Henrique, Ernie Hill, Doris Guinier, Phyllis Murphy Stevenson, Earl Arrington, Robert W. Jones, Doris Pope Jackson, Dr. Beny Primm, Jacquelyn and William Brown, Jack Robinson, Doris Stewart Clark, and Judge Albert Murray.
In my research on Jack and Jill and on the experiences of elite children who participated in cotillions, exclusive camps, and attended the top private boarding schools or colleges, I relied on Barbara Collier Delany, Nellie Thornton, Shirley Barber James, Ilyasah Shabazz, Gwynne Wright, Eric Chatman, Judge Henry M. Kennedy Jr., Elsie Ashley, Yvonne Ashley Galiber, Orial Banks Redd, Paul Redd, Alberta Campbell Colbert, Beatrice Moore Smith-Talley, Berecia Canton Boyce, Sam Watkins, Marsha Simms, Dolly Calhoun Williams, Herman Robinson, Kimberly Webb, Rikki Stubbs Hill, Dr. John Evans, Jacqueline Forster, Eileen Williams Johnson, and my good friend Loida Lewis.
In my research and discussions of women’s organizations, I was aided by Patricia Russell-McLoud, Dr. Marcella Maxwell, Audrey Thorne, Portia Scott, Anita Lyons Bond, Toni Fay, Phyllis Murphy Stevenson, Anna Small Murphy, Dr. Mirian Calhoun Hinds, Nellie Arzelia Thornton, Bebe Drew Price, Ruth White, Jamil French, Evelyn Reid Syphax, Paquita Attaway, Ersa Poston, Betty Shabazz, and Barbara Anderson Edwards.
To assist me in my understanding of the role of elite men’s groups like the Boulé and the Guardsmen, I relied on Harvey C. Russell, E. Thomas Williams, Anthony Hall Jr., Rev. Harold T
. Lewis, Winder Fisher, Ernest Prince, Boyd Carney Johnson, Dr. Melvin Jackson Chisum, Dr. James “Rump” Jones and Ada Fisher Jones, Theodore Payne, Dr. George Lopez, Dr. Alfonso Orr and Dorothy Orr, George Busby, and my cousin Dr. Robert Morton.
I would not have gathered my information and turned it into an actual manuscript without the resources and calm atmosphere provided by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Howard University Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Harvard University Library, Princeton University Library, Fordham University Library, New York Public Library, Greenburgh Public Library, Mount Pleasant Library, Chappaqua Library, Scarsdale Public Library, and White Plains Public Library.
Special thanks is owed to Dr. Mirian Calhoun Hinds, Margaret Morton, Dauna Williams, Robin Schlaff, Beth Radow, Steve Emanuel, Andrew Siegel, Dolores Harris, Arthur Eulinberg, Boyd and Eileen Johnson, Ronald Walter, Lawrence Hamdan, Jordan Horvath, Brad Roth, James Grasfield, Jay Ward, Searcy O. Grahame, Anne and Al Gottlieb, Anna Small Murphy, Gail Campbell Busby, and Ann and Andrew Tisch, who went beyond the call of duty as friends and advisers in supporting me during the writing of this book.
My editor, Gladys Justin Carr, welcomed me into a home where everyone believed in this book—even when I needed all those extra weeks for revisions. Deirdre O’Brien, Erin Cartwright, Cynthia Barrett, Stephanie Lehrer, Steve Sorrentino, and Cathy Hemming gave me the encouragement that a writer always needs. My colleagues at U.S. News & World Report, Lee Rainie, Stephen Smith, and Mort Zuckerman, recognized the need for a book like this.
My agent, Esther Newberg, and her ICM colleagues Jack Horner, Nicole Clemmons, and Jeff Jackson have done a wonderful job at allowing me to keep my attention on the research and the writing. And during the process, I could not have had two better friends than my assistants, Andrea J. Heyward and Deborah Wheelock Taylor, who spent many months keeping track of historic photographs and maintaining notes and messages from my sources, and Adrienne Lewis, who kept things running smoothly through all the craziness.
My parents, Richard and Betty, offered me the kind of information and advice that is necessary when pursuing a project as “inside” as this. Their great devotion to the Links, Jack and Jill, and Martha’s Vineyard, along with their memory of historic moments in black culture reminded me of the value of such a book. And my best cheerleaders, Sheri Betts and my brother Richard, gave generously of their time and advice.
My deepest gratitude is owed to that woman I first met in the halls of Harkness Commons: my brilliant wife, Pamela Thomas-Graham. Even in the midst of negotiating her way through a complex business career, a new mystery series, and our complicated pregnancy, she continues to have the strength to demand intellectual honesty from all that we do. Gordon and I both know that she is the best friend, mother, and mentor that a man could ever have.
L.O.G.
Chappaqua, New York
November 1998
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LAWRENCE OTIS GRAHAM is an attorney and commentator on race, politics, and class in America. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, he is the author of thirteen books, including Member of the Club, which features his undercover experience as a busboy at a discriminatory country club. His most recent book, Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class, was a national bestseller. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Essence, U.S. News & World Report, and the Best American Essays. He lives in Manhattan and Chappaqua, New York, with his wife, Pamela Thomas-Graham.
www.lawrenceotisgraham.com
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PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS
The Walker Collection of A’Lelia Bundles
Top: The Walker Collection of A’Lelia Bundles; bottom: Courtesy of the Herndon Home
Courtesy of the Herndon Home
Top: Courtesy of Dempsey J. Travis; middle, bottom: Courtesy of Nellie Gordon Roulhac
Top: Courtesy of Anna Small Murphy; bottom: Courtesy of Phyllis Murphy Stevenson
Top: Courtesy of Anna Small Murphy; middle: Martha’s Vineyard Historical Society; bottom: UPI/Corbis-Bettmann
Top: UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; middle: Courtesy of Ersa Poston; bottom: Courtesy of Mary-Agnes Miller Davis
Top: Courtesy of Mary-Agnes Miller Davis; bottom: Angel Franco/NY Times Pictures
Courtesy of Camp Atwater
Top: Courtesy of Mary-Agnes Miller Davis; bottom: Courtesy of E. Thomas Williams
Top, middle: Courtesy of E. Thomas Williams; bottom: Courtesy of Harry and Barbara Delany
Top: Courtesy of Dr. Asa Yancey; bottom: Chicago Tribune Photo
Top: UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; middle, bottom: From the author’s personal collection
Top: UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; middle, bottom: Courtesy of Loida Nicolas Lewis
Top: From the author’s personal collection; bottom: Courtesy of Harold Doley
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Our Kind of People Page 53