Powell, William

unknown · Contribution: Post-Civil War era

Industrial & Mechanical

Founded the Standard Repair Shop, a mechanical and ironworking business

Industrial & Mechanical: collage image
Industrial & Mechanical

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Quick facts

Active since
Post-Civil War era
Category
Industrial & Mechanical

Impact on the world

Powell built a skilled mechanical business within one of the free Black farming and industrial communities that flourished in the antebellum and Reconstruction North.

An alternative history

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Sources

  1. Book or scholarly work

    Portia P. James, 'The Real McCoy: African American Invention and Innovation, 1619–1930' (Anacostia Museum & Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989). [Note: Powell traces to this single scholarly source

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