Little Rock, Arkansas NNBL Chapter
Courtesy of The New York Public Library
In 1900, Booker T. Washington founded the National Negro Business League (NNBL) to promote support entrepreneurship among African Americans. In 1914, African Americans in Little Rock, Arkansas had a vibrant NNBL chapter whose members engaged in practically every field of entrepreneurship. The key to their success depended on cooperation, ethnic pride, and following sound business principals. The city had several grocery stores; and the NBL chapter president owned the two most successful grocery stores. NBL Organizer Ralph W. Tyler credited the economic independence of the city’s black citizens to the organizational efforts of its NBL chapter in advancing the interest of black entrepreneurs and consumers. Above all it demonstrated the power of organized cooperation. African Americans in Little Rock controlled more than $1 million dollars of real estate and had more than $350,000 invested in business enterprises. Taylor concluded, their entrepreneurial activity served as a resounding response to white supremacy and Jim Crow in Little Rock.
