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Most White People Just Don't Trust A Black Business Very Much: How The Walker Family Overcame Economic And Racial Discrimination To Become Successful Professional Business Owners In Memphis In The Twentieth Century, Leslie Pleasants
Master's Theses
ABSTRACT
Joseph Edison (J.E.) Walker was an African-American man born to an impoverished, sharecropping family in the heart of the Mississippi Delta after the Civil War in 1879. Even from an early age, he was determined to break out of the station his family had been relegated. There were few educational and occupational opportunities for Walker in Tillman, Mississippi, but against all odds, he received his undergraduate degree from Alcorn State College and a medical doctorate from Meharry Medical College. After graduating, Walker opened a medical office to help the people of the town; however, his local community mistreated him. …