Robert T. Bess

Robert Theophilus Bess Jr. (February 5, 1889 – after October 1958) was a British-American stockbroker, civil rights activist, public relations manager, and pharmacist.[1][2] He founded the R. T. Bess Company in New York City, a stock brokerage firm, which was the only black-owned stock brokerage on Wall Street in 1932.[3][4] He was also the only black stockbroker in New York City the early-1930s.[5][4] Bess founded the Anti-Discrimination Job League, Inc. in 1936, which worked to fight for law change in New York and nationally. Starting in 1947, he formed Robert T. Bess Assoc., a public relations firm.[1][6][7]

  1. ^ a b Who's Who in Commerce and Industry. Marquis Who's Who. 1965. p. 100.
  2. ^ "Ethiopian Federation Has Green Light; Maps Action". The New York Age. 1949-08-27. p. 23. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  3. ^ Juliet E. K. Walker, Encyclopedia of African American Business History (Greenwood Press, 1999), p. 322, 630.
  4. ^ a b "Robert T. Bess, Stock Broker, Exonerated on Larceny Charge". The New York Age. 1931-12-26. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  5. ^ "Negro Stockholder of Wall Street Faces $105 Larceny Charge". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1931-11-07. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  6. ^ "Booker T. Washington Coins Cease Circulation This Year". The New York Age. 1951-03-31. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  7. ^ "Public Relations Group Selects Robert T. Bess". The New York Age. 1951-07-14. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-01-09.