Church, Robert Reed Sr.
1839-1912 · Contribution: 1862-1912
Became the South's first African American millionaire, building a Memphis business empire spanning real estate, saloons, a hotel, and Solvent Savings Bank, the city's first Black-owned bank
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Impact on the world
Church turned catastrophe into a foundation for Black economic power in the Jim Crow South, extending credit that let Black Memphians buy homes and start businesses when no white bank would serve them.
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