Negroes are often said to be able to start but unable to continue in undertakings which require determination, persistence, tact, and which involve strenuous competition. This opinion is certainly not borne out by the age of their business enterprises in New York. For, in the face of conditions they had met in beginning business in New York City, only 51 out of the known 309 enterprises had been established less than one year; 67 between one and two years; 114 between two years and six years, and 33 between six years and ten years. Twenty-two had been established between ten and fifteen years, and twenty were fifteen or more years old, nine of them having been established twenty years or more; the age of two was unknown. When it is remembered that during the first decades after emancipation the larger number of the most energetic Negroes was absorbed in professional occupations, principally teaching, because of the great need in race uplift, and that business pursuits have had until within the last few years minor consideration, to say nothing of trials and failures in the effort to gain business experience, the age of these enterprises must be counted a creditable showing. And it is a good recommendation to the commercial world that the Negro has not made a reputation for bankruptcy assignments. When one reflects that nearly all of these proprietors and promoters have migrated to New York City from less progressive communities and that the chances to get experience in a well-established business before they attempt to start an enterprise for themselves is, except in very rare cases, denied Negroes, the permanency of the ventures in the commercial current deserve commendation.
2. PERMANENCE OF LOCATION
No less interesting than the length of time a firm had been established was the length of time it had been located at the address where it was found by the canvasser in 1909. The exact causes which induce the Negro firms to change addresses could not be ascertained, but 81 out of 275 had been at the address where they were found less than one year, although, as shown above, only 51 were less than one year old; 72 had been at their present address between one year and two years, which leaves a smaller margin between that number and the 67 shown to have been established that length of time. There was a similar small margin of comparison in the groupings of two to four and four to six years between the time the firms were established and the length of time they had remained at the one address. This shifting is due probably to the movements of the Negro population upon which the firms depend for patronage, but partly to inexperience.
Table XXVI. Showing Length of Time 309 Business Enterprises had been at Addresses where Found, Manhattan, 1909.
| Class of establishment. | Length of time at present address. | |||||||||
| Less than 6 mos. | 6 mos. to 11 mos. | 1 yr.-1 yr. 11 mos. | 2 yrs.-3 yrs. 11 mos. | 4 yrs.-5 yrs. 11 mos. | 6 yrs.-7 yrs. 11 mos. | 8 yrs.-9 yrs. 11 mos. | 10 yrs. and over. | Unknown. | Total. | |
| Barber shops | 5 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 50 |
| Brokers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 3 | 16 |
| Coal, wood and ice | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 2 | 1 | 7 | 19 |
| Dressmaking and millinery | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 8 |
| Employment agencies | — | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | 1 | — | 2 | 14 |
| Express and moving vans | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| Groceries | 4 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 4 | — | — | 1 | 2 | 36 |
| Hairdressers, etc. | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 8 |
| Hotels and lodging houses | — | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | — | 2 | 1 | 17 |
| Pool and billiard rooms | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Printers | — | — | 3 | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | 5 |
| Restaurant and lunch rooms | 5 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 2 | — | — | — | 1 | 26 |
| Saloons and cafés | — | 2 | — | 2 | — | 1 | — | — | — | 5 |
| Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 2 | 5 | 10 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | 24 |
| Undertakers | 1 | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| Miscellaneous | 6 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 2 | — | 1 | 5 | 48 |
| Total | 30 | 51 | 70 | 66 | 22 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 34 | 309 |
The first of these facts would have effect on the question of a firm's getting credit on purchases of supplies and both facts mean a great deal in securing and holding a retail trade.
That a detailed comparison may be made, Table XXVI, showing length of time firms had been at addresses where they were found, is added ([p. 119]).