Procope, Ernesta
1923-2021 · Contribution: 1953-1979
Founded E.G. Bowman, the first Black-owned business located on Wall Street
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
Built an insurance brokerage that became, in 1979, the first Black-owned business to operate from a Wall Street address, a significant symbolic and practical breakthrough in the historic financial district.
Life & background
Procope founded the E.G. Bowman insurance company in Brooklyn in 1953, building it into a successful brokerage before relocating the business to Wall Street in 1979, making it the first Black-owned business to operate from that historic financial address.
Sources
- The New York Times; Black Enterprise
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