Businesses & Industries

This guide is designed as a starting point for those looking for information on African American contributions to specific industries and does not address every industry individually. However, the sources and strategies included here should provide a framework for further research regardless of the industry.

According to the U.S. Census, African Americans owned 124,004 firms in 2017 with 32 percent of firms in the healthcare and social services industries. The Doing Industry Research guide will provide you with additional guidance on searching for industry information; the Doing Historical Company Research guide will assist with researching older or out of business companies and the Doing Company Research guide will steer you towards contemporary company information for active companies. If you need assistance with your research, please submit a question using our Ask a Librarian service.

Board of directors of the Coleman manufacturing co., Concord, N.C., the only Negro cotton mill in the U.S. [1899?] Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Jack Delano, photographer. A meeting of the insurance agents at the Unity Life Insurance Company. 47th Street and Indiana Avenue, Chicago, Illinois Division. 1942. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Jack Delano, photographer. Mr. William Strong (left), manager of the Henry C. Taylor Store for Men, selling underclothes to Mr. J. Foster. 47th Street near State Street, Chicago, Illinois. 1942. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Russell Lee, photographer. Negro barber shop. Southside of Chicago, Illinois. 1941. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Jack Delano, photographer. Mr. William H. Green, owner of a radio and electrical store on 47th Street near Indiana Avenue, Chicago, IL.. Mr. Green has been in the radio business for nine years, in the same store. 1942. Library of Congress Prints

The Business Reference Services has produced the following Research Guides that may assist you in your research if you are examining specific industries, companies, or individuals. View the full list of Business Research Guides, where you can also search by subject.

Business and Labor History: Primary Sources at the Library of Congress
This guide highlights those special collections at the Library that would be of interest to researchers studying business and labor history with an emphasis on personal and organizations papers and related resources.
Business History: A Resource Guide
The resources included here will help those researching the history of American business, including industries, companies, and business leaders.
Business of Beauty: A Resource Guide
The beauty industry covers a wide range of products from cosmetics to skin care and everything in between. This guide covers this large and global business.
Corporate Annual Reports at the Library of Congress
Annual reports provide a window into how a company presents itself to its investors and the public and describe corporate performance at a particular point in time. This guide presents indexes for the vast collection of these reports at the Library.
Directories By Address: Inventories of Library Collections
This guide to the Library of Congress directory collections includes information on telephone, street, city, criss-cross directories, and more.
Doing Company Research
This guide provides ideas and strategies for researching companies, with a focus on more common sources that may be of use for those looking for information on companies that are active and for those looking for current information.
Doing Historical Company Research
This research guide provides links to selected print and electronic resources, as well as tips and tricks for those trying to find information on older or out of business companies.
Doing Industry Research
This guide is designed as a starting point for those looking for current information on industries. In addition, some historical sources are also included
Dun and Bradstreet Publications at the Library of Congress
This resource guide provides an overview of major publications from Dun & Bradstreet available in the Library's collections, including directories and reference books, as well as links to databases and external websites.
Fashion Industry: A Resource Guide
Resources for those studying the business aspects of the fashion and apparel industry.
Influencer Marketing: A Research Guide
As a marketing strategy, companies hire individuals with a large social media following to promote products through their personal accounts. Use this guide to research the business of influencer marketing, current issues and regulations in the industry.
Mergers, Acquisitions, and Joint Ventures: A Resource Guide
This guide provides general guidance on finding resources useful when researching the topics of mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures in business with a particular focus on transaction data.
Real Estate Industry: A Resource Guide
This guide provides a starting point for researching both the residential and commercial real estate industries in the United States.
U.S. Telephone Directory Collection
The Library of Congress's collection of telephone directories represents the following states and localities: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the city of Chicago. The dates of the directories span most of the 20th century. The Library's United States telephone directory collection consists of 8,327 digitized reels of microfilm; of these, about 3,500 are presented in this collection. The remainder of the collection may be requested from the Microform Reader Services (LJ 139).