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DETROIT'S AFRICAN ENTREPRENEURS
"Me and Joe Louis were
partners ... associates until his
, death. There was no handshake;
no money invested. But (because
of) my/oya/tytohim, whateverl
. had h,e bed a part of, " Wilson said.
"
..
aut "You (Bla ) asked for ome­
thing that you really didn't want­
integration, and now that you have it,
yqu don't know what to do with it."
I H added in a tone of voice that
P.o e volume, "You didn't want it."
FOR THO WHO may not
know the name Sunnie Wit on, it is
th' name of a man who e word, not
ru' hand hake cemented deal and
made business partners. He numbers
among his friends the la te "Brown
Bomber-s-Joe Louis and the Mayor
of Detroit, Coleman A. Young.
"We are going backward - we
are not together. We feel the white
man's whiskey is better than the
Black man's whiskey," h said.
• When Wilson came to Detroit
frOm Columbia, South Carolina he
said, he was in show business,
, He recalled that he produced acts,
sang and danced and formed the
Swrue Wilson Group, which were
dancers and singers.
: He also recalled tbat he was
tutored in law and worked in
Speakeasies (when the Purple Gang
was notorious in Detroit).
'DURING THE EARLY and
middle 1930>, when Michigan was
�, Wilson said 'he had an eight or
ten piece band and ten chorus girls,
: During that era, he said, some of
the popular night spots for Blacks
were Slim Jones' Chocolate Bar on
Livingstone (between Hastings and
politics but it w a joke because the y
were only doing thing the white
allowed them to do."
Wil on's business career began
with his ventures in the entertain­
ment field, but in the mid 1930s he
first managed and then became co­
owner and finally owner of Leonard,
Reed's Chicken Shack, he recalled.
THE cm KEN SHACK was
at 424 E. Vernon Highway. When
Reed had an accident and moved to
California to convalesce, he gave
Wilson his half of the chicken shack.
Wil on changed the name to the
Brown Bomber Chicken Shack, he
said, to honor his friend Joe Louis.
"Me and Joe Louis were
partners .. .as ociates until his death.
There was no handshake; no money
invested. But (because of) my loyal­
ty to him, whatever I had he had a
part of," Wilson said.
Wilson believes the name change
occurred in 1936, and today he
thinks it could have been the forerun­
ner to the concept used by franchises
that cater to fast food chicken.
BE ALSO REMEMBERS the
many personalities that used to visit
the Chicken Shack,people such as
Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Bill
(Bo Jingles) Robinson, Jack
Dempsey, Dorthory LaMore and
Walter Winchell.
The Chicken Shack thrived until
Wilson left Paradise Valley and
moved uptown to Forest 'and Hast­
ing.
Wilson recalled that while Blacks
were entrepreneurs in Paradise Val­
ley and the name Blac Bottom-the
Gratiot, McDougal and Charlevoix
areas, hummed Black life, the Jewish
people bad Hastings Street sewed up.
But it was at Forest and Hastings
that the name Sunnie Wilson became
synonymous wi th Black night life
and today there are many who
remember it fondly.
He recalled that he leased the
Forest Club, at one time called Ex­
hibition Hall, which he said was big­
ger than Madison Square Garden.
BETWEEN THE FOREST
Club which could seat 500 while
many skated, and Sunnie Wilson's
Place which he said "had the longest
bar in America," he employed over
100 people and made contributions
to the communi ty.
Sunnl Wil on' Bar on Forest and Hasting in the mid 40 .
"I feel that if you would eliminate
the past (stop celebrating Black His­
tory Month) you will have no roots
for the future and the future is what
you (we) need," he said. "wok how
they (Blacks) fight each other in
Highland Park. It's pitiful. It's awful. Sunnie Wilson and Joe Louis - partner .
We need more love," he concluded.
Barthwell'
By LEAH SAMUEL
SMgWril.,
Sidney Barthwell says that it was
circums ranees that created
; Barthwell's Drugstore, the business
, he ran for years, which at its peak,
: had expanded to eight stores and was
: one of Detroit's mo t successful
: Black businesses. .
"There were not at that time a lot
of businesses that catered mainly to
: the Black communi ty. All the. Blacks
: were together in one place, so it was
: just sort of natural that we started our
businesses to serve one another."
But this man admits that in the
beginning, it was hard to tell if he
would become successful at any­
thing.
"I wasn't one of the better stu­
, dents," he says of his high school
-: years. "I was into a lot of sports and
: I did what the other athletes did-I
took easy classes."
AlODg with those easy classes,
. Barthwell took chemistry, which did
: pique his interest.
, Bartbwell graduated from Cass
. Technical High School in 1925-
, one of six Black students in a cl
of 1,000--and went on to major in
pharmacy at Wayne State Univer­
, sity.
: "When I, was graduating from
: Wayne, I got my first eye-opener. Up
, til that time. 1 had been taking my
courses, but I hadn't been very
serious about why I was going to
sdlool or even what I was going to
Drugstore: A me
had a friend who had a drug store on
Russell and Alger, buthe wasn't a
registered pharmacist.
"I worked there for about a year,
but later the store failed because the
expenses of a registered pharmacist
were more than it could bear. But I
had become very friendly with the
non-pharmacist owner, and he sug­
gested that I get together what finan­
ces I could and see if I could obtain
the lease for the building from the
la�ord. It was a pretty good loca­
tion, as small stores went at that time,
but the volume that the store had at
that time was not enough to support
it. "
With $500, Barthwell started his
drug store in 1933.
"I got into business at a pretty
opportune time. The worst depres­
.sion in history had bottomed out and
the economy was on the upcline
again. I was working hard in The
beginning, trying to take in fifty dol­
lars a day. Just as I was succeeding
and starting to feel pretty good about
it, I had another problem arise --a .
company from Indianapolis flooded
Detroit with double-dipped ice
cream stores. And one of the stores
opened on a comer a block from me."
Barthwell said that is business
, had a typical drug store setup­
prescription and merchandise
.departments, and a fountain area
where snacks, soft drinks and ice
cream were sold. The influx of ice
cream stores was cutting into
Barthwell's fountain business.
Worried but undaunted,
Barthwell got an ad one morning for
a freezer that made soft ice cream.
"I decided that I would try and
purchase this machine. Tbesalesman
came and told me that for $50 down
he would put it in for me. So then,
Barthwell's went into the soft ice
cream business."
That ice cream became a
.trademark during the next five
decades as Barthwell' Drugs tore
The Soda Fountain at aarthwell'. Drugatore, circi 1850. a.rthw II'. w
known bu.ln e.ln the African American community In th 1 MO.·
do with my career.
With a three-year bachelor of
science degree in pharmacy,
Barthwell one of only three Blacks
graduating, decided to use his educa­
tion (0 serve his own.
"I took the Board examination (to
become registered) three times be­
cause I failed twice. Young people
hould laiow that if at first you don't
�cceed you press on."
, .
Finally becoming a registered
pharmacist in 1931, Barthwell began
seeking work.
"I started on Hastings Street,
.wbere I knew most of the druggists.
I learned that the stores in that area
didn't want to hire a Black pbar-"
macist, 0 there was a period of time
when I didn't have any employment.
I became pretty discouraged. I found
out that a pharmacist friend of mine
grew and prospered.
Barthwell credits his wife of 57
years for much of his success .. The
former Gladys Marie Whitfield, who .
has a masters degree in library
science from the University of
Michigan, married Barthwell in
1935� The Barthwells have two
children: Sidney Jr., a Harvard
graduate who is now anattomey, and
Akosua (Mary Jane) Barthwell­
Evans who graduated- from Yale
University and is practicing !aw in
New York. The Barthwells also have
anLl-year-old grandson, Walter
Evans, Jr..
"It was my wife w polished
me, " Barthwell says. "She taught me
all the finer points of presenting
myself a businessman and bas
stood by me always. "
Barthwell, as one who has seen
first-hand the history of Black busi­
ness in Detroit, has a few ideas of his
own about how i, has changed.
"The climate for (Blae ) doing
busine s has changed," he com­
ment. "Back then (when
Barthwell's was started), you had
discrimination. Weweteresmcted to
areas where there were Blac . Back
then, we started businesses to serve
each other, and the community was
happy to' have something they con-
idered theirs.
"I hope that we can get b ck to
that," he adds. "Ifnot, I can't say that
I see a future for Black businesses."'
