234
(BUSINESS—TEXAS.) DALLAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Dallas
Texas Negro City Directory, 1941-1942.
Illustrated. 448 pages. Thick 8vo, original pic-
torial deep blue cloth; paper toned.
Dallas, 1941
[800/1,200]
A scarce and important city guide. Dallas’ black population in 1941 was considerable, and its
Negro Chamber of Commerce’s Consulting Secreatary at this time was Antonio Maceo Smith
(1903-1977), a graduate of Fisk. Smith was one of the most powerful black businessmen in
Texas, having organized the Western Mutual Insurance Company serving as Executive
President of the Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce from 1933 to 1939. This directory fea-
tures a long, illustrated section on Bishop College, and numerous advertisements for other
educational institutions, like the Tyler Barber College, and Coleman Beauty School, stressing
the importance in the black community of acquiring a trade. Other ads include the South
Dallas Funeral Home featuring the “Singing Chapel on Wheels.”
235
(BUSINESS DIRECTORIES—VIRGINIA.) BERRYMAN, GORDON C.,
Compiler.
Directory of Surry County, Virginia 1932—1933.
Full-page illustration of
the 1933 Ford Eigh Cylinder Sedan and other smaller advertisements. 96 pages. 4to, origi-
nal pictorial wrappers; covers somewhat discolored and lightly worn; faint “tide-line”
throughout at the bottom margin. Loosely laid in is a slip “This book is sent to you with
the compliments of the advertisers and the compiler.”
Surry County: Surry County Directory Company, 1932
[600/800]
A MOST UNUSUAL DIRECTORY
!
Arranged by race, but strangely so: “White Land Owners,”
“ Colored Land Owners,” White Automobile Owners,” “Colored Automobile Owners.” Not
only is this directory unusual in that regard; it also breaks down, by number, the types of auto-
mobiles owned by Surry County inhabitants under “Classified Automobile Owners”
alphabetically: 1 Auburn, 6 Buicks, 214 Chevrolets, 14 Chryslers, 13 Dodges, 1 De Soto, 6
Durants, and so forth; with Ford way out in front with 457 vehicles. There were 27 distinct
automobile brands, including one Stutz Bearcat, and one Pierce Arrow. When the Great
Depression was finally over, at least several no longer existed.
234
235
I...,126,127,128,129,130,131,132,133,134,135 137,138,139,140,141,142,143,144,145,146,...310