HIDDEN BLACK HISTORY
The Other Hamilton: Counterfeit Cash, Insurance Scams and America’s First Black Millionaire
Wall Street broker Jeremiah G. Hamilton was ultra-rich in mid-1800s New York City. Here is his story.
In 1983, there were only three Black financial services professionals in the entire state of Arkansas. I was one of them. A decade later, I started the first Black-owned investment bank in Arkansas. For a little more than a decade, I was part of an exclusive club — the world of Blacks on Wall Street.
For more than thirty years, I navigated the universe of Black-owned investment firms, ultimately building and managing a successful program trading operation for one of the largest minority-owned investment banks on Wall Street. Most people are unaware of this, but there is a rich history of Black entrepreneurs in finance going back decades. Indeed, my journey through the world of finance was made possible, at least in part, by the blood, sweat, and tears of Black trailblazers that came years before me.
These iconic figures are part of a unique historical tapestry. They include Travers Bell, who co-founded Daniels & Bell, the first Black-owned investment bank on the New York Stock Exchange in 1971; Wardell Lazard, who…
