People’s Mercantile Association
Courtesy of Library of Congress
More on WEB Du Bois early 20th century research on African-American cooperative businesses. The research covered the US south and delved into the question, how long has there been a consciousness effort among African Americans to create and operate cooperative businesses? Today we turn to Du Bois’s research on African Americans in Washington, DC. We know that a or a group of black entrepreneurs in the nation’s capital organized a cooperative grocery store called the People’s Mercantile Association (PMA) in 1902. They started with a $20,000 capital investment and $2000 in shares at $10 each and 1/10 share valued at $1. Over time it had 300 subscribers who held $4,000 in company shares. A similar cooperative grocery stores started in other parts of the country. For example, Palmetto Grocery Company (PGC) in Greenwood, South Carolina, a cooperative store in Dover, Delaware.
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