AFRICAN-AMERICAN DEALERS
Listed By Date of Appointment
In collecting historical data, it was possible to develop a time line of those African-Americans who were the first within the industry to be franchised based on appointment date. It is believed the listing below is 98% accurate. As research continues, this information will be up-dated as appropriate.
| Date | Individual/City-State | Franchise | |
| 1. | 1923 | Homer B. Roberts – Kansas City, Mo. | Hupmobile |
| 2. | 1929 | Roberts-Campbell Chicago, Ill. a} (see notes below) | Hupmobile |
| 3. | August 1936 | Dan Gaines – Chicago, Ill. | Ford |
| 4. | 1940 | Ed Davis – Detroit, Mich. | Studebaker |
| 5. | Sept. 1957 | Ed Davis – Detroit, Mich. b} | Ford |
| 6. | 1961 | Robert H. Nelson, Jr. Chicago, Ill. | MG-Peugeot |
| 7. | August 1962 | Robert P. Neal – Chicago, Ill. | Triumph-BMC |
| 8. | Nov. 1963 | Ed Davis – Detroit, Mich. | Chrysler-Ply. |
| 9. | 1964 | Robert P. Neal – Chicago, Ill. | Sunbeam |
| 10. | July 1966 | C. G. Hairston – Danville, Va. | Fiat |
| 11. | August 1967 | Robert H. Nelson Jr. & Ernie Banks - Chicago, Ill. | Ford |
| 12. | October 1967 | Al Johnson – Chicago, Ill. | Oldsmobile |
| 13. | October 1967 | Robert P. Neal – Chicago, Ill. | Toyota |
| 14. | October 1967 | A. Gordon Wright Venice, Calif. | Ford |
| 15. | November 1967 | Adam McFadden Los Angeles, Calif. | Pontiac |
| 16. | May 1968 | Kenneth O. Wilson Baltimore, Md.c} | C-Dodge |
| 17. | August 1968 | Todd Cochran & Roy Knight San Francisco, Calif. | C-Dodge |
| 18. | August 1968 | Don M. Thomas – Newark, N. J. | Chrysler-Ply. |
| 19. | October 1968 | Arthur Bailey – Brooklyn, N. Y. | Chrysler-Ply |
| 20. | Nov. 1968 | Clem Edwards & Alvin Dinwiddie Chicago, Ill. | Ford |
| 21. | February 1969 | Theodore & Butler Chapelle Chicago, Ill. | Pontiac |
| 22. | March 1969 | Lou Brock – E. St. Louis, Ill. | Chrysler–Dodge |
| 23. | March 1969 | Dan Brown – New Rochelle, N. Y. d} | L-M |
| 24. | April 1969 | Edward Frazier – Tuskegee, Ala. | Chevrolet |
| 25. | April 1969 | Van Yassall – Germantown, Pa. | American Motors |
| 27. | July 1969 | Richard J. Wood – Washington, DC | Olds |
| 27. | August 1969 | Leslie Bland- Chicago, Ill. | L-M |
| 28. | Sept. 1969 | Roy Q. Hanks – Richmond, Calif. | Pontiac |
| 29. | Sept. 1969 | Robert E. Hill – Compton, Calif. | C-Dodge |
| 30. | Sept. 1969 | William W. Nelson Richmond, Calif. | Chev. |
| 31 | Sept. 1969 | Horace Noble – Chicago, Ill. | C-Dodge |
| 32. | October 1969 | Warren Y. Allen – Compton, Calif. | C-Ply. |
| 33. | November 1969 | Burt Clemons – Cleveland, Ohio | C-Ply. |
| 34. | December 1969 | James Price & Irvin Reeves Queens Village, N. Y. | L-M |
| 35. | 1969 | Henry L. Fisher, John E. Barber & Baron H. Martin - Franklin Park, Mass. | American Mtrs. |
| 36. | January 1970 | Nathan G. Conyers – Detroit, Mich. | Ford |
First African American
Women Dealers
| Year | Individual/City-State | Franchise |
| 1979 | Barbara Wilson - Ferndale, Mi. | Honda |
| 1983 | Jackie Edgar - Jeanerette, La. | Chevrolet |
| 1986 | Jackie Edgar - Breaux Bridge, La. | Ford |
Notes:
a}Campbell was likely an investor without any operational responsibilities.
b} Distributor
c} Investment Group
d} 20% ownership but Brown made day-to-day management decisions as dealer principal.
Sources: Based on research conducted by Rusty Restuccia beginning in 1995. Primary sources were the individual minority dealer associations, newspaper and magazine articles.
Copyright: 2008, Rustic Enterprise - Ann Arbor MI All Rights Reserved