And, perhaps most remarkably for the time, Sarah Rector was able to keep just about all her money. Mollie McQueen, Sarahs paternal great-great-grandmother, was enslaved by Creek Chief Opothleyahola in Alabama. Connecting oklahoma's electric cooperative communities. Pastor Imitates Jesus Christ and Tries to Fast for 40 Days; He Passed of Malnutrition, Shelley, Woolf, and Maas: Three Feminist Writers that Turned Pain into Masterpieces. Now, Forbes has released its 2021 list of the top 10 richest women in the world and in first place is LOreal heiress Franoise Bettencourt Meyers, with a staggering net worth of US$92.9 billion. Sarahs paternal grandparents were likely born in slavery inside of the Creek tribe in eastern Alabama. Library of CongressW.E.B. Jerome Kerviel is the poorest person on the planet. Euston published her myth-busting piece about Rector in 2019 on her history blog, The New Santa Fe Trailer. But her relatives say those images are fake. Who was the first richest black woman in America? But she had also intentionally chosen to omit Pope-Turnbos role.. 1878) met and married Rose Jackson (b. In 1922, she married Kenneth Campbell, the second African American to own an auto dealership. About Along with her businesses, she owned 2,000 acres of river bottomland and was worth over $1 million. The NAACP was able to convince the Rectors to send Sarah to the Tuskegee Institutes elementary school called the Childrens Home. But will go back to this in a moment. Sara Allen (born March 23, 1954) is an There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. WebStevie Nicks, Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison, Fleetwood Mac, Bee Gees, Star Wars, X-Files, "Worthwhile" Comedy (70s, 80s & early 90s SNL, Vintage Looney Sarah Rector was buried in Taft Cemetery, Oklahoma. [4] In June of that year, a special agent for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), James C. Waters Jr., sent a memo to Du Bois regarding her situation. That year Rector married Kenneth Campbell, and the couple had three sons, Kenneth, Jr., Leonard, and Clarence. They had to petition a court to obtain it or otherwise request a white guardian. Whats the Future of the Manufacturing Industry? She even generated $11,567 in October 1913. She threw lavish parties and entertained celebrities such as Count Basie and Duke Ellington. The family lived in what was called the Rector Mansion in Kansas City, but wrangling over Rectors earnings and financial mismanagement continued until she was 20. Women of Power TECH, PODCASTS Soon after arriving to Kansas City, the Rectors bought a sprawling stone foursquare at the corner of 2000 East 12th Street. The Rector family actually lived far better than advertised. Even as tens of thousands of Native Americans were forcibly relocated northwest to Indian Territory from 1831 to 1850 in the genocidal journey known as The Trail of Tears, the tribes largely sided with the Confederate states during the Civil War. When she died at age 65 on July 22, 1967, she only That equates to $7,000 $8,000 today. Her grandparents had been enslaved by Creek Indians and freed after the Civil War. As a consequence of that Act, around 600 children received land, ad Sarah was granted almost 160 acres. When Sarahs popularity grew, her parents were forced to give up their guardianship status to a white man named T.J. Porter. Will King Charles IIIs Reign See the End of the Commonwealth? When the public learned how much Rector was earning, her guardianship was transferred from her parents to a white man named T.J. Porter. Alice Walton, the daughter of the Walmart founder, was ranked second with 61.8 billion U.S. dollars in net worth. By the time she turned 18, Rector was worth an estimated $1 million, or about $11 million today. The federal government required the appointment of financial guardians, usually White men, to manage the oil wealth of Native Americans and Freedmen. [3] Rector and her family relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, and settled in a large stone American foursquare home located at 2000 East 12th Street that still stands today. Wikimedia CommonsThrough sheer chance Sarah Rector became one of the richest children in America. When Rector died at age 65 on July 22, 1967, her wealth was diminished, but she still had some working oil wells and Last year we listed Elizabeth Holmes as the worlds youngest self-made woman billionaire, worth an estimated $4.5 billion. The stock market crash of 1929 and the Depression that followed probably depleted her accounts. Sales Partnership Solutions Selena Hill is the Digital Editor at Black Enterprise and an award-winning multi-media journalist. In November 1921, Fred Rector, Sarahs uncle, alleged that Rector was dissipating her fortune and asked that G.C. Parker, a white man of Muskogee, be appointed as guardian. In March 1922, another application was filed against her that sought a guardian to oversee her estate. Wanting to have the real scoop on Sarah, the Defender published an article claiming that she was an uneducated girl dressed in rags raised by ignorant parents who had given a white man all rights to her state. Subscribe to Newsletter This ended up not being true entirely but Sarah and her siblings were soon sent to school in Taft. In October 1914, Rector enrolled at the Childrens House, a boarding school for teens at Tuskegee Institute. Her final resting place in the ground was back where the story beginsin Taft, in a peaceful parcel of land known as Blackjack Cemetery. Her siblings all took on jobs- her mother even for a time went back to working as a maid. Still, Sarahs case was so big that it inspired the creation of the Childrens Department of the NAACP to investigate and protect children from white guardians being ripped off their land and wealth. Im not going to leave them so they can sit on someones desk, Brown said. Naturally, an 11-year-old black girl making that amount of money a day became news all over the country, and tabloids would write all sorts of things about her. Without being able to farm and make some profit from the land, Sarahs father, Joseph, petitioned the Muskogee County Court to be able to sell the land. We have things we would like to share with everyone., Today, their history is kept alive by relentless Rector women making sure their story from now on is told right.. Which Teeth Are Normally Considered Anodontia? Her sudden wealth became the object of racist news coverage. Historically so. Joe ended up quite satisfied when he was able to lease Sarahs land to an oil company where he received a bonus of $160. Her mother, Rosa Rector, would simply say, Aunt Sister can afford to do that, Brown said. She had five siblings. Although historical accounts clash, Sarah Rector is believed to be Americas second black millionaire after Madam C.J. They had three children: Becky (b. Then in 1917, the source of all the speculation vanished from Oklahoma. Manuel and Joe arrived in Mexico on Joes dollar but all the money evaporated while trying to target this land in Tampico. Masthead. The couple had three sons and were recognized as local royalty, driving expensive cars and entertaining elites like Joe Louis, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie at their home. By the time she was 11, her portion of the familys land was earning more than 300,000 a year, drawing both suitors and global attention despite her age. Soon, the NAACP and W.E.B. The truth was that her parents were given money monthly to take care of her, and a new five-room home was being built on land purchased. By then, Rector owned stocks and bonds, a boarding house, a bakery and the Busy Bee Caf in Muskogee, Okla. That same year, Rector enrolled in the Childrens House, a boarding school for teenagers atTuskegee InstituteinAlabama. She had been born into poverty as a member of the Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma in 1902, and received, as did every member of the Nation, a plot of undesirable land in the territory when it was made a state in 1907. Rector became instantly wealthy. He had lived in the home for over 17 years. Ironically, this government prohibition proved to be the familys greatest blessing. I was lucky that a line of the Rectors Sarahs nieces- were willing to talk to me and share their stories. One of the greatest examples of this hypocrisy and nonsensical laws is the case of Sarah Rector, a young black girl deemed by the press and society as the Richest Colored Girl in the World, " and who was eventually declared white so she could be a member of society. Who was this girl, and how did she become one of the richest people in the early-20th-century US? The newspaper published an article claiming that her estate was being mismanaged by her family and that she was uneducated, and had a poor quality of life. Any oil produced would give a 12.5 percent royalty to the land owner. SistersInc. With an estimated net worth of $177 billion, he is the richest person in the world. Yet the possibility of riches teased the imagination as landholders throughout Oklahoma began striking oil. Du Bois himself got involved, hoping to verify this story and rectify any injustice done to Sarah. reset to default font size Sarah Rector, Kansas Citys First Black Millionairess, was known in Kansas City for her fairy tale ascension to money and fame, fine living at Rector Mansion, and reported entertaining of African American celebrities such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Joe Louis, and Jack Johnson. Each freedman was given 160 acres of land. BLACK ENTERPRISE is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. W.E.B. Black Men XCEL The Smithsonian can count on it, she said: Shell be back in touch. Likely in order to escape scrutiny and not wanting to be the target of some greedy partys act, This will help towards getting the correct info out there. She was declared as a white person so she could fit in the socialit circles of her time. Historically, racism has managed to create a well-functioning system to perpetuate ideas of race superiority and oppression towards those considered inferior to them. In fact, both women appeared to have a bit of a lead foot. We would like to see the house restored and have it become a historic landmark and museum, the Rector descendants told me around the kitchen table covered with photos, records and family papers. Its this legacy that Brown saw herself paying tribute to about 12 years ago when she began with the help of her sisters and partner, Karen Riffle, to document Sarah Rectors life. Sarahs land was near a bend along the Cimarron River valued at around $500. Except for a short time in Missouri, she lived all of her life in Woodward and she had attended Woodward schools. 1901), Sarah (b. Mansa Musa, who may have been the richest person ever. Many turned out to be thieves. But the land given to the Freedmen was of generally inferior quality rocky and unfit for farming, hardly worth the tax burden. She felt betrayed by her bandmate. Joe wasnt in the best of health, but when a friend from back home named Jim Manuel was serving time in the penitentiary, he contacted Joe and claimed to have property in Mexico that had been found to have oil on it. In 1913, however, her fortunes changed when wildcat oil driller B. Many stores, including Emery, Bird, Thayer & Co., would close down and allow the Rector women to shop freely. Sarah Rector was born in 1902 to a freed black couple, Rose McQueen and Joseph Rector. By the time she turned 18, Rector was worth an estimated $1 million, or about $11 million today. Rector became a millionaire after oil was drilled on her land. This version has been corrected. National ArchivesA typical cabin for Creek Freedmen on Muscogee (Creek) Nation land in Oklahoma, similar to where Sarah Rector would have been born. Rumors even claimed that she was a white immigrant girl that was being kept in poverty. Shortly thereafter, he died and was buried in Blackjack Cemetery in Taft. Mansa Musa I: The Richest Man In History Was An African King, Not Jeff Bezos. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. Diane Euston, a Kansas City history writer and preservationist, had seen it, too. It became known as the Rector Mansion, Tonya Bolden said. In 1914, an African American Journal called The Chicago Defender, published a set of articles on Sarah Rector and her fortune after her name was becoming more and more popular. WebWho was Sara Rector and how did she become wealthy? Why Do Cross Country Runners Have Skinny Legs? Who was the real Sarah Rector, The Richest Black Girl in America?, Missing in Action: Local artists painting of Patrick Mahomes stolen, UPDATE: Shakir is safe. Sarah Rector was fortunate in that her guardian did not take advantage of her wealth and that the local law protected her (many other black children wound up being scammed out of their wealth or far worse). (Museum officials did not respond to a request for comment for this story.). Kim Kardashian is now officially a billionaire: Forbes estimates her net worth is approximately $1 billion, up from $780 million in October 2020. Richest Colored Girl Forced to Live in Shack, the Defender proclaimed. PO Box 54309 The land became part of the famous Cushing-Drumright Oil Field and it propelled Rector into both spotlight and scandal. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove; December 23, 1867 May 25, 1919) was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activist. It went on to claim that her parents were ignorant.. She owned stocks, bonds, a boarding house, businesses, and a 2,000-acre piece of prime river bottomland. She purchased a house on 12th Street, known as the Rector House, which is currently owned by a local nonprofit, with the intention of restoration and historical and cultural preservation. A horse and buggy were purchased to spare the children the two-mile trek to school. While living on Creek Indian land, Rectors parents Joseph and Rose were given hundreds of acres thought to be useless in 1907. When Sarah Rector died at age 65, she had used up a good portion of her fortune but she still had a few oil-producing wells and some real estate. Sarah Rectors case spotlighted the practice of transferring guardianship of black childrens wealth to whites. The family resided in this home until shortly after the Stock Market Crash where it was then purchased by the Adkins Funeral Home. But things didnt work out for them In 1930, they divorced, and four years later Sarah got married for a second time. Rector and her siblings went to school in Taft, an all-black town closer than Twine, they lived in a modern five-room cottage, and they owned an automobile. Sarah and Kenneth had three sons, but in 1930 the marriage ended in divorce. I have some important news to share with all of America: those images are not Sarah Rector. In November 1913, not aware of the monthly allotments Sarah was getting, the newspaper headline read Richest Colored Girl Forced to Live in Shack. Claims were made that Sarah was sleeping on the floor and her guardian was only giving her a few dollars a month. Ironically, her body was brought to C.K. Even after Sarah and Becky left for Alabama for better schooling, the newspapers reported that they were living in a tent. Both of Sarahs grandfathers had fought with the Union Army during the Civil War, and when Indian Territory became Oklahoma in 1907 the Dawes Allotment Act divided Creek lands among tribal members and their former slaves. Jones started to assemble the necessary equipment to check out Sarahs land near the Cimarron River. Strapped for cash, Rectors father leased his daughters parcel to a major oil company in February 1911 to help him pay the $30 annual property tax. Jones drilled a well on the property which produced a "gusher" that began to bring in 2,500 barrels (400m3) of oil a day. Rectors father leased Sarahs portion of the land to a Pittsburgh oil company in 1911, primarily to pay a yearly $30 tax bill. You might like this: Mansa Musa I: The Richest Man In History Was An African King, Not Jeff Bezos. One newspaper dubbed her the richest negro in the world.. Rector was already a millionaire by the time she had turned 18. The Hall & Oates tour begins on August 5 in Mansfield, Mass. DuBois. Although Joseph Rector had selected Porter as Sarahs guardian before oil was discovered on her land, newspapers soon picked up the story that the Rector family was still living in relative poverty while Sarahs white guardian was making a killing off her oil. The family lived simply but not in poverty; however, the $30 annual property tax on Sarah's parcel was such a burden that her father petitioned the Muskogee County Court to sell the land. [11], As news of Rector's wealth spread worldwide, she began to receive requests for loans, money gifts, and marriage proposals, despite the fact that she was only 12 years old. Most of the fancy parties that Sarah had where celebrities such as Duke Ellington would attend werent at the Rector mansion- they were at her home at 2600 Lockridge where she had purchased several homes on the block. WebSarah Kay Ferguson Avila went to be with her Lord and Saviour on September 27, 2014 in Oklahoma City. Many Freedmen eked out a living raising corn, cotton and other common crops. By the time they had their chance to get a hold of land for their children, the pickings were slim. Unfortunately, Rector lost a majority of her wealth during The Great Depression and moved out of her Upon graduation, she attended the Institute. How Sarah Rector Became The Richest Black Girl In America In The Early 20th Century. Du Bois, who got involved with Sarah Rectors case when he heard rumors her money was being mismanaged by a white man. Rector, whose relatives had been enslaved by Creek Indians and later lived among the tribes members in Oklahoma, was just 11 in 1913 when Black Gold was discovered on her allotment of tribal land. Sarah Rector, also known as Sarah Rector Campbell and Sarah Campbell Crawford, (March 3, 1902 July 22, 1967)[1] was a Creek Freedwoman and oil magnate once known as the "Richest Colored Girl in the World".[2][3]. Of course, people never stopped trying to take advantage of Rectors fortune. Currently, no one has yet claimed trillionaire status, although some of the worlds richest individuals may only be a few years away from this milestone. 1901-1967), a native of Oklahoma and a woman known as the first black female millionaire to live in Kansas City, lived in this American foursquare at 2000 East 12th Street. If youre unfamiliar with the story, The Richest Black Girl in America is set in the early 1900s, and follows the true tale of Sarah Rector, an 11-year-old Black girl in Jim Crow America, who is given reparations in the form of uninhabitable land by the U.S. government. In 1887, the state declared the Dawes Allotment Act, which established that all Creek Freedmen minors had to be granted land. In January 1914, the newspaper wrote,Oil Made Pickaninny Rich Oklahoma Girl With $15,000 A Month gets Many Proposals Four White Men in Germany Want to Marry the Negro Child That They Might Share Her Fortune. Meanwhile, the Savannah Tribune wrote,Oil Well Produces Neat Income Negro Girls $112,000 A Year. Who is the youngest richest woman in the world? The Rector children attended school in Taft, an all-Black town. . Oil Made Pickaninny Rich blared a headline in The Washington Post, which described Rector in 1914 as an orphan, crude, Black and uneducated, yet worth more than $4,000,000.. Sarah Rector wasnt living near Taft, or in Tuskegee, Bolden concluded. When she was 20 years old, Sarah married Kenneth Campbell; he was known to be the second Black man in the US to own an auto dealership. Deborah Brown grew up calling her Aunt Sister, and she remembers her storied life through the haze of childhood in segregated Kansas City, Mo., more than a half a century ago. By October 1913, 11-year-old Sarah received $11,567 in royalties from the gusher. With Dave Stewart, Hall produced one of his albums titled 'Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine,' which has a #5 solo single named 'Dreamtime. Likely in order to escape scrutiny and not wanting to be the target of some greedy partys act, Sarahs family secretly slipped away and moved north to Kansas City by 1917. Mama Rose, as her family called her, was in charge of Sarahs money until she was able to get control at the age of 20. Rector began to receive a daily income of $300 from this strike. Her maternal great-great-grandmother had been enslaved by Creek Chief Opothle Yoholo in Alabama during the first half of the 19th century, according to Tonya Bolden, author of Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America published in 2014. When Rector died at age 65 on July 22, 1967, her wealth was diminished, but she still had some working oil wells and real estate holdings. 1886), and by 1907, they were living in a two-room cabin outside of Taft, population 250, on Roses land allotment. None of the allegations were true. Newspaper articles reporting Sarahs rags to riches story and the NAACP investigation sparked a number of international marriage proposals when Sarah was just 13, some from white men seeking to control her growing oil empire. Sarah Rector was born in 1902 near the all-black town of Taft, located in the eastern portion of Oklahoma,[3] in what was then Indian Territory. Her descendants never knew. The rags-to-riches story made its way around the world, with American newspapers reporting that several German youth wrote Leahy requesting the childs hand in marriage. This raised concerns throughout the Black community including the recently formed NAACP, who became interested in assuring her guardian wouldnt rip her off her fortune. It is important to hear from those directly concerned, rather than base research solely on archival material like newspaper clippings. The White-owned newspapers across the country heralded young Sarah as the worlds richest Negro girl and gushed about her supposed fairy-tale life, all the while suggesting she was unworthy of it. Not in a position to pay for all of the acreage, Joe was able to get rid of Beckys land but was having trouble finding anyone to buy the rest. For their part, Black-owned newspapers, including the influential Chicago Defender, speculated anxiously that Rectors White guardian was taking advantage of her and shortchanging her education. She was in Kansas City, Mo., where her family had relocated a few years earlier. Beckys land was in Okfuskee County, and Sarah and Joe, Jr. ended up with parcels 50 miles northwest of Taft. Rector was about 16 then and not half-Creek. Privacy Policy Rector now received an income of $300. 1902) and Joe, Jr. (b. Eventually, it netted her upwards of $8,000 per day in todays currency. Sarah was born on March 3, 1902. Rectors lost most of her wealth during The Great Depression. Decades after the Rectors made Missouri home, Browns parents warned their children never to inquire about their aunts land in Oklahoma. In researching Sarah Rector, she decided to go directly to Brown and her three sisters who are still right there in Kansas City. was an adman and salesman. In the internet era, she said with a sigh, it sometimes seems like a losing battle. Forbes magazine estimated the Queens net worth at around $500 million (about 325 million) in 2011, while an analysis by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index put it at $425 million (about 275 million) in 2015. What changed Sarah and the Rectors life overall was a stroke of luck if you may say. Oh my goodness! Sarah Rector died in 1967 from a stroke at the age of 65. Did Joe and Rose Rector move the family to Kansas City to escape the violent fate that befell too many oil-rich Natives and Freedmen? [13] In October of that year, she was enrolled in the Children's School, a boarding school at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, headed by Washington. The sensationalism that dogged Rector in her youth has continued long after her death. Sarah married her first husband, Kenneth Campbell, in 1920. TimesMojo is a social question-and-answer website where you can get all the answers to your questions.
Did Lillian Russell Have Children,
Does Trulicity Go Bad If Not Refrigerated,
Chicago Firefighter Pension List,
7 Which Sentence Is Punctuated Correctly,
Articles W