Coleman, Warren Clay
1849-1904 · Contribution: 1897-1901
Founded the Coleman Manufacturing Company, the first Black-owned and operated textile mill in the United States

Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Category
- Business & Misc.
Impact on the world
Coleman challenged the racial order of the Southern textile economy, an industry built on Black labor but closed to Black ownership, by proving African Americans could own and run the mills themselves.
Sources
- NCpedia
1 more sources and references are available to members.
More in Business & Misc.
Ajao, Adeyemi
1981–Present
Co-founded Base10 Partners, the first Black-led venture capital firm to manage over $1 billion in assets
Allen, Byron
1961-present
Built Allen Media Group from a single bartered celebrity-interview show into a multibillion-dollar media empire spanning broadcast television stations, cable networks, The Weather Channel, and a controlling stake in BuzzFeed, making him one of the wealthiest Black media owners in American history
Allen, Eliza
c. 1840–1910
Only woman listed on the founding charter of the first chartered African American-owned bank in the United States
Awotona, Tope
1981-
Founded Calendly, a widely used scheduling software platform