Black Businesses
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East side of Massachusetts Street, ca. 1915. The horseshoe on the left marks the blacksmith shop of
Miner Roberts. On the right is Ike Miller's pool hall. Roberts and Miller were African Americans
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There were many businesses in Lawrence during the time Langston Hughes lived here that were owned and operated by African Americans. In addition to pool halls, barber shops, and a movie theater, there were blacksmiths, plumbers, tailors, dressmakers, restaurants, a tannery, a bakery, and a hotel. There were also several African American doctors, lawyers, and teachers in Lawrence. Though African Americans could own property anywhere in the city, black businesses were concentrated in the 600 block of Massachusetts Street, the 800 block of Vermont, and on Warren (now 9th) between Vermont and New Hampshire. (see Black Businesses and Professionals in Lawrence 1900-1915)
These businesses were important to the black community because they served as arenas for social interaction. Lawrence was not legally segregated and blacks and whites lived together in most neighborhoods. However, African Americans were excluded from most white social activities. In Not Without Laughter, Sandy's job at a barber shop exposes him to a different type of social life than he has experienced before.
"...the barber-shop then was a man's world... filled with loud man-talk and smoke and laughter. Baseball, Jack Johnson, racehorses, white folks, Teddy Roosevelt, local gossip, Booker Washington, women, labor prospects in Topeka, Kansas City, Omaha, religion, politics, women, God--Discussions and arguments all afternoon and far up into the night, while crisp kinks rolled to the floor, cigarette- and cigar-butts were thrown on the hearth of the monkey-stove, and Sandy called out: ‘Shine, mister?’"
When he is older, Sandy begins to spend time with other young men at the pool hall. There they are entertained by the stories of the older men
"...out-bragging and out-lying one another, all talking at once. Sometimes they would create a racket that could be heard for blocks. To the uninitiated it would seem that a fight was imminent. But underneath, all was good-natured and friendly--and through and above everything went laughter. No matter how belligerent or lewd their talk was, or how sordid the tales they told...these black men laughed. That must be the reason, thought Sandy, why poverty-stricken old Negroes like Uncle Dan Givens lived so long--because to them, no matter how hard life might be, it was not without laughter."
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