The oppressed entrepreneurs of the late 1800s capitalized on low grocery prices to build businesses that influenced Atlanta’s present-day institutions.
Black entrepreneurs during the late 19th century often found an economic foothold in the grocery business, providing opportunity to the dynamic businesspeople who helped found Atlanta institutions still relevant today. Black grocers contributed to the founding of Spelman College, the creation of South-View Cemetery and the building of the Sweet Auburn neighborhood (where the building that now houses Lottafrutta was originally a grocery store). (Illustration: Broly Su / AJC | Source: Getty)
During the Reconstruction era in the decades after the Civil War, Atlanta’s Black residents found themselves free in a technical sense, yet bound by the customs and prejudices of the times.
Even before the widespread institution of Jim Crow laws, Black people faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles when it came to their attempts to rise above subsistence level.
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Intolerance extended to Black success
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nehw saw ,esuoheraw raw raw ot tuohguorht eht eht eht eht eht detroppus sreidlos deretlehs .dias tnailer ,diap nwo no fo reven .efil gnivael ni sih sih mih eh yrecorg yllaicnanif neve depacse ,dedne dne detacsifnoc ,citta dna dna eeknaY yecnaY s’retsbeW retsbeW noinU noinU llennoCcM tuB ymrA
A depiction of James Tate, a successful Black businessman who was once enslaved, from the Atlanta Constitution published Feb. 2, 1896. (Archival image)
Groceries provided an acceptable entry point
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“The Black Side” by Rev. E.R. Carter of Friendship Baptist Church, a book that detailed the accomplishments of many of Atlanta’s most successful Black citizens of the day. (Archival image)
The perspective of ‘The Black Side’
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Floyd H. Crumbly, a one-time Buffalo Soldier and decorated veteran, found success as a grocer in Atlanta in the late-19th century. (Archival image from “The Black Side” by Rev. E.R. Carter)
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Lottafrutta, on the corner of Auburn Avenue and Randolph Street, is a gourmet fruit market in the Old Fourth Ward. It is housed in a building originally built as a grocery store by Thomas Goosby in the early 1900s. (AJC File photo)
Grocers grow and branch out
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regnuoy .etorw hcihw saw ot gnivirht eht eht eht taht llits gnihtemos etis ,pohs laer rotsap nwo deniadro fo ,lugom retsinim devlovni ni elbmuh emoh yrecorg sdoog gnidnuof rof yllautneve etatse yrd ,ssenisub ssenisub tliub rehtorb emaceb emaceb emaceb emaceb ta sa dna dna dna a a a a elihW namlepS llenhcS llehcS treboR esuoheroM nhoJ morF pihsdneirF .egelloC egelloC s’retraC retraC ,tsitpaB
The “tidy cottage” of Thomas Goosby, as described in “The Black Side” by Rev. E.R. Carter. Goosby was considered a master builder who was much in demand during Reconstruction, but he also ran a grocery store with son. (Archival image from “The Black Side” by Rev. E.R. Carter)
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Henri Hollis is a reporter and restaurant critic for the Food & Dining team. Formerly a freelance writer and photographer with a focus on food and restaurants, he joined the AJC full-time in January 2021, first covering breaking news. He is a lifelong Atlantan and a graduate of Georgia Tech.
