BLACK FIRSTS IN SPRINGFIELD

Submitted by Archie Best

Mr. Kermit Lee:                        First Black bank manager and loan officer.

Mr. James H. Higgins:                First Black to receive Pynchon Award

Thomas Thomas:                      First Black Restauranteur

Nanette Howe Nichols:              First Black Beautician (“Madame” Howe) and First Black Beauty Parlor on Hancock Street

Primus Mason: First Black realtor…accumulated a fortune

Mrs. Lillian Giles: First Black Postmaster, Agawam Post Office

Mr. Sydney Johnson: First Black Mortician

Mr. Harrison Wright:                  First Black to make supreme sacrifice in WWI

Lt. Joseph Budd: First Black Lieutenant on Springfield police force

Captain James Davis: First Black Captain on Springfield police force

Dr. Edward Shepard: First Black Insurance: Fire & Marine Insurance

Mr. Richard Holt, Sr.: First Black automobile dealer

Mr. Rostell Wheeler: First Black night club owner: “Phono Village”

Mr. John E. Hinson: First Black inspector for fairs for Massachusetts Agricultural Department

Camp Atwater: First Black camp

Mr. Eli Baptist: First Black to have a park bear his name

Robert Pearson Hamlin: First Black graduate of Springfield College (1904)

Norma Baker: First Black Secretary of Springfield newspaper (Union/Sun/Republican)

Lenita Johnson: First Black Reporter of Springfield Newspaper (Union/Sun/Republican

Rev. John Witten: First President, Springfield Branch NAACP

Mr. Raymond A. Jordan: First Black State Representative

Mr. W. W. Johnson: First Black business with stationary engine…Steam Carpet Cleaning Company, 272

 Hancock Street (1800's)

Mrs. Janet Troutman-Simmons:    First Black staff member Western Massachusetts Senatorial Office

Mary Zoner Barksdale-Laws: Owner and Administrator for 27 years of the only Black owned rest home (Hurstdale)

 in Western Massachusetts