7 Black Americans Who Made Housing History

In honor of Black History Month, we recognize the role and legacy of the many Black Americans who have made housing history and paved the way forward for Black homeownership. Read on to hear the incredible stories of seven Black Americans whose impact is still felt today.

Zipporah Potter Atkins (1645–1705)

The First African American Property Owner in Colonial Boston

Zipporah Potter Atkins was born free in Boston, Massachusetts, to parents enslaved by a wealthy merchant. When the merchant drew up a will, he left money to Atkins’ parents and specified that if Atkins’ father were to die, the money should go to her. On the seventeenth anniversary of her father’s death, Atkins purchased a home and land, becoming the first known recorded African American woman to do so in Boston. When she sold the home in 1699, she wrote her initials on the deed of sale, indicating she had achieved a level of literacy, another remarkable feat in colonial days.

Biddy Mason (1818-1891)

One of Los Angeles’ First Black Real Estate Moguls

Biddy Mason was enslaved until age 37 when a California judge declared her free forever in 1856. With her freedom, Mason and her daughters moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a nurse and midwife. Her friends encouraged her to invest in real estate, and Mason was able to save up by 1866 to purchase a home on Spring Street. She ran a daycare, held civic meetings and hosted the First African Methodist Episcopal Church at her home. She continued to invest in real estate and helped her family buy properties. Although Mason became one of the wealthiest women in L.A. with a $300,000 fortune, she generously gave back to her community and is remembered for her philanthropy and incredible resilience.

Philip A. Payton Jr. (1876-1917)

The Father of Harlem

Philip A. Payton Jr. arrived in New York City in 1899 where he worked as a barber and later a janitor for a real estate office. After he opened his own office with a partner that ultimately failed, Payton and his wife moved to Harlem where he started advertising his services for guiding Black tenants from Midtown to new homes. He started the Afro-American Realty Company in 1904 to reestablish Harlem as a place for Black Americans who had faced housing discrimination. Payton is remembered as the “father of Harlem,” and by the time he died, 75 percent of the city’s black population had moved to Harlem, according to the New York Times.

Loren Miller (1903-1967)

Black Civil Rights Attorney Involved in Landmark Housing Litigations

Loren Miller became the go-to representative for Los Angeles’ Black homeowners in cases of discrimination. In 1945, Miller represented Black residents in the Sugar Hill community who were facing eviction because of racially restrictive real estate covenants. Miller successfully argued that these covenants violated the Fourteenth Amendment. The Sugar Hill case set a legal precedent for the 1948 U.S. Supreme Court Case Shelley v. Kraemer where Miller once again fought for Black homeowners. The Court’s decision made the enforcement of racially restricted covenants unconstitutional.

Clarence Mitchell Jr. (1911-1984)

NAACP Lobbyist for Fair Housing

Clarence Mitchell Jr. was the Chief Lobbyist for the national NAACP and the Washington director of the NAACP. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Mitchell spent his career advocating for civil rights on Capitol Hill. He was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act. Mitchell was so influential that a Republican senator nicknamed him “the 101st senator.”

Ernesta G. Procope (1923-2021)

Insurance Industry Pioneer

Ernesta G. Procope was an investment banker from Brooklyn, New York, who founded E.G. Bowman, a private insurance company. She served local businesses and homeowners in the 1950s, including the primarily Black community of Bedford-Stuyvesant where other insurers had been hesitant to service. Procope advocated for black homeowners her entire career, including pushing for the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan that provided coverage in high-risk areas. E.G. Bowman became the first Black-owned business on Wall Street and the nation’s largest Black woman-owned insurance agency.

Ben Slayton (1942-)

First Black Member of the National Association of Realtors®

In the 1960s, there were no Black members of the National Association of Real Estate Boards, which is now known as the National Association of Realtors^®. At the time, Ben Slayton needed another member to sponsor him to join. His adoptive Jewish family, who had taught him the real estate business, helped him find a white member who charged Slayton $5,000 to sponsor his membership. Thus, Slayton became the first Black Realtor^® in 1964. He later became the first Black Century 21 Real Estate Franchisee broker-owner. In 2018, he started his own mortgage company to close the approximate 30% homeownership gap between Black and white Americans.

We’re grateful to these seven individuals and countless others who boldly made history and dedicated their lives to the advancement of fair housing for Black Americans.

At Premier Mortgage Associates, we’re an equal housing lender dedicated to helping families all over the nation reach their dream of homeownership.