The Safe Bus Company: A Legacy of Black Entrepreneurship in Winston-Salem

Photo: Mrs. Mary Miller Burns Green, the first woman to serve as the president of the Safe Bus Company. Her father and uncle, Elijah and Joseph Miller (respectively), were 2 out of the 13 original owners of Safe Bus Company.

In 1926, amidst the pervasive segregation of the American South, a group of African American entrepreneurs in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, came together to form the Safe Bus Company—a pioneering endeavor that would become the largest Black-owned transportation company in the nation.

Origins in Segregation

Prior to the establishment of Safe Bus, the predominantly Black neighborhoods of East Winston lacked access to public transportation. The city's trolley services, operated by Southern Public Utilities Company, did not extend into these areas, leaving residents reliant on a fragmented network of approximately 35 independent jitney operators. These jitneys, while providing essential services, were often uncoordinated and sometimes unsafe.

On April 24, 1926, Clarence T. Woodland brought together 21 jitney operators to establish a transportation service aimed at serving the African-American community, focusing on areas of the city that lacked adequate public transit options. Recognizing the need for a more reliable and organized transportation system, 13 African American businessmen pooled their resources, each contributing their life savings to purchase shares totaling $100,000. On May 26, 1926, they officially chartered the Safe Bus Company, named to reflect their commitment to providing safe and dependable service to their community .

Growth and Community Impact

Photo: the thirteen original owners of Safe Bus, a pioneering group of Black Entrepreneurs out of North Carolina who started a mass transportation company in Winston-Salem.

Under the leadership of its first president, Harvey F. Morgan, Safe Bus rapidly expanded. By 1935, the company was transporting 8,000 passengers daily and employed 75 individuals, with an annual payroll of $65,000. The company's success was a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit and resilience of its founders and the community they served .

Safe Bus not only provided essential transportation but also became a symbol of Black economic empowerment. It offered stable employment opportunities for Black residents, including positions as drivers, conductors, and administrative staff. The company's operations were a source of pride, demonstrating the capacity of African Americans to manage and sustain significant enterprises.

Challenges and Transition

The 1960s brought significant social changes, including the Civil Rights Movement and the desegregation of public facilities. In 1968, Safe Bus began offering services to all city residents, marking a significant shift from its original mission of serving the Black community exclusively. This expansion led to increased competition and a decline in ridership, as many white passengers preferred to use the newly integrated services .

Despite these challenges, Safe Bus continued to operate until 1972, when the Winston-Salem Transit Authority purchased its assets. This transition marked the end of an era for the company but ensured that its legacy lived on within the city's public transportation system .

Legacy

The Safe Bus Company's story is a powerful example of Black entrepreneurship and community resilience. It stands as a testament to the ability of African Americans to create and sustain enterprises that not only served their immediate needs but also contributed to the broader social and economic fabric of their communities.

Today, the legacy of Safe Bus is preserved through historical accounts and exhibits, reminding us of the importance of community-driven initiatives in shaping the history and progress of American society. 

Reginald F. Lewis: Wall Street Lawyer and Financier, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist

Reginald F. Lewis (b. 12/7/1942 - d. 1/19/1993)

Reginald Francis Lewis was born in Baltimore, Maryland on December 7, 1942. Lewis' father was Clinton Lewis, a small business owner, and his mother was Carolyn Cooper, a teacher. By age 9, his mother and father were divorced and his mother was remarrying to a local postal worker, Jean Fugett, Sr.

The young Reginald Lewis showed a penchant for entrepreneurial endeavors early in life. By age 9, Lewis began selling newspapers within his Baltimore community, earning $20 a week in the early 1950s. According to the inflation calculator at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that is the equivalent of about $200 a week -- no small amount for the times and for a young man his age.

Lewis loved sports. A quarterback on the local football team, he won a football scholarship to Virginia State College a Historically Black College and University in Petersburg, Virginia. In 1965, he graduated with a B.A. in Economics. In his autobiography, Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?, he admits to not having made the best grades at Virginia State, but that same year he decided he wanted to go to law school. His admissions to law school is the kind of story from which legends are made, worthy of retelling.

In essence, without a formal application to Harvard Law School, Lewis traveled to the school and convinced the university's administration to provide him admission. After a visit to the campus, his legendary charisma won over the school's decision makers. He was told to submit the application later. It was a good investment for Harvard Law School. In fact, Lewis would donate $3 million dollars to the school in 1992 -- making him then the largest individual donor in the school's history.

Autobiography available at Amazon. 

By 1968, Lewis had graduated from Harvard Law School and was headed to New York City -- Wall Street, in fact. He soon began working as a lawyer at Paul Weiss Rifkin Wharton and Garrison. By the early 1970s, he had opened his own law firm, Lewis and Clarkson. The law partnership specialized in venture capital project.

By the 1980s, Reginald Lewis' legal and business acumen in venture capital projects translated over to corporate takeovers. He would leave the practice of law to pursue business ventures full-time. This change in career direction would eventually earn him a distinction as the richest African American man in the 1980s.

Through a $23 million buyout, by 1983, Lewis had acquired McCall Pattern Company, a well respected dress-pattern firm. He sold the company four years later for $63 million in cash. With only $1 million of his own money invested in the original takeover, his profit from the sell was $50 million, reported the New York Times.

Lewis acquired The Beatrice Companies in 1987, a foods company with large operations in Europe. This deal cost him $985 million dollars. He formed all of his food business concerns under the umbrella of TLC Beatrice International, with TLC standing for The Lewis Company. At the time, it was the largest firm run by a person of African descent. The global conglomerates under his operations included 64 companies that operated in 31 countries. Food interests ranged from an ice cream making company in Germany to a sausage production house in Spain.

It was a great investment for Lewis. TLC Beatrice would make Fortune's 500 list with a valuation of $1.5 billion. A read of Reginald Lewis' autobiography illustrates, however, that his successes were not without challenges. For example, in 1991, when he attempted to take TLC Beatrice Foods public through a stock offering, the market was not receptive.

Before his death on January 19, 1993, at the young age of only 50 years, Lewis had donated millions of dollars to various institutions, from churches to homeless shelters. The Abyssinian Baptist Church and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity were both large recipients of his philanthropy. He held faithful memberships. He also donated to the HBCUs Virginia State College and Howard University.

He knew he had a tumor for about two months before he died, said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a close friend to Lewis. "He spent the last two months preparing for treatment," said Jackson, "and getting his whole house in order, in terms of the company and his family."

Lewis was survived by his wife, Loida Lewis, and two daughters, Christina and Leslie. His transition plan including leaving the running of his companies substantially to his half-brother, Jean S. Fugett, also a trained lawyer.

Mr. Lewis' name will certainly be remembered for generations to come. In Baltimore, to keep this great legacy alive there are both the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture and the Reginald F. Lewis School of Business and Law High School. Harvard University constructed The Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center at the university's campus and also offers the Reginald F. Lewis Fellowship for Law Teaching.