Warren Clay Coleman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 25, 1849 |
| Died | May 24, 1904 (aged 54) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | founder, Coleman Manufacturing Company |
Warren Clay Coleman (May 25, 1849 – May 24, 1904) was an African-American businessman in south-central North Carolina known as a founder of the Coleman Manufacturing Company, which built one of the first black-owned and operated textile mills in the United States.[1] The Coleman-Franklin-Cannon Mill still stands in Concord, North Carolina, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
Born into slavery, Coleman learned shoemaking and barbering before he came of age as a freedman. He had a white attorney father who took an interest in him, and the ambitious Coleman made use of his contacts and became known as a highly successful entrepreneur in and around Concord, North Carolina. He developed a substantial general store and other retail outlets, bought land, and developed and rented residential real estate, owned farms in several areas, and had other businesses in addition to the mill. In 1900 Coleman was the wealthiest man of color in the state.
- ^ Schweninger, Loren; American National Biography Online (February 2000). "Coleman, Warren Clay". American National Biography Online. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 44109626. Retrieved February 7, 2016.