RESEARCH AND RESOURCE

March 8, 1977, was the end of an era.  It was a monumental day for me, but I didn’t realize the historical effect until just now.  It was the date that my paternal grandfather, Richard E. Wimberley, Sr. died.  Not only did I lose my grandfather, but Raleigh’s amazing history of the number of black (or Negro as they were still called then) owned drugstores ended that day.  You see, in 1977, there were still 3 black owned drug stores in Raleigh.  There were 4 in a 25-mile radius, if you counted the one remaining black owned pharmacy in Durham.

We tend to think of East Hargett Street as the Black main street of Raleigh, but after slavery, it was mostly white businesses.[1]  The Black businesses were scattered along Fayetteville, Hargett, Wilmington Streets and Exchange Plaza in 1873.  There were 31 Black businesses in the downtown area at that time and they were people who worked with their hands, artisans and craftsmen.  They...