STL Black Biz’s Women’s History Month spotlight on Dr. Helen Nash sparked heartfelt memories, appreciation, and a reminder of what true community impact looks like. Dr. Helen E. Nash was more than a pioneering physician. She was a trailblazer, a healer, and a woman whose work left a lasting mark on St. Louis. A respected…
ST. LOUIS — Annie Turnbo Malone: The Untold Story Brings a St. Louis Legacy Back Into Focus. The documentary Annie Turnbo Malone: The Untold Story is prompting renewed attention on one of St. Louis’ most influential and least discussed business leaders: Annie Turnbo Malone, the entrepreneur and philanthropist whose name many residents recognize, but often…
Black History Month at 100: Reflecting on the Past, Building the Future In 2026, Black History Month marks its 100th anniversary. Learn the origins of Black History Month, honor iconic Black leaders, and explore how to carry the legacy forward through action and community impact. 100th Anniversary of Black History Month: Why 2026 Matters Black…
Key Takeaways Supporting Black-owned businesses strengthens generational wealth and local communities. Black entrepreneurship began as survival and became strategy, ownership, and power. Black-owned businesses built jobs and institutions when systems shut us out. Redlining, segregation, and violence disrupted Black business ownership and wealth. Black entrepreneurship didn’t start as a trendy hashtag or a “support small…
The St. Louis Argus Newspaper For more than a century, the St. Louis Argus, a century of Black Journalism, Advocacy, and Community Legacy has served as one of the most enduring voices of Black journalism in the Midwest. Established in 1912, the Argus emerged at a time when African Americans in St. Louis—and across the…
The National Negro Doll Company was founded by Richard Henry Boyd. As a former slave Boyd was born Dick Gray on March 5, 1843. He was an entrepreneur, preacher, missionary, publisher, banker, and a Black Nationalist. In 1911 Henry Boyd founded the National Negro Doll Company. The former slave created the first black doll company…
Darlyng & Co. the first Black-owned kid’s registry was created by the husband and wife, duo Carl and Tara Darnley in 2014. The Darnley’s wanted parents to have access to safe, eco-friendly, and non-toxic products. As a result, a brainchild was born in 2014. As with most businesses Darlyng & Co. the first Black-owned kid’s…
Biden Pardons Garvey and Others As He Exits the White House Marcus Garvey, born on August 17, 1887, in Jamaica, was a powerful political activist, orator, Pan-Africanist, and entrepreneur whose legacy continues to inspire movements for racial equality and empowerment. Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA), an organization that…
David Ruggles, First African-American Bookstore Owner David Ruggles was the first African American to own a bookstore. Ruggles promoted several publications that supported the end of slavery. This was astonishing when at the time in many places blacks were not allowed to read. In 1835 a white anti-abolitionist mob burned down his stores. Ruggles traveled…
The story of the man behind Homer G. Phillips Hospital is familiar to some, but a mystery to many. Interestingly, Homer Gilliams Phillips was not a physician; he was actually an attorney in the St. Louis region. Born John Wesley Phillips in Sedalia, Missouri, in 1880, he studied law at Howard University and later practiced…