The Overton Hygienic Building is one of the most recognizable structures that served as a springboard for African-American enterprises suffering constraints and exploitation in the twentieth century. The building played an important part in the development of entrepreneurs in Chicago’s African-American population, known as the Black Metropolis.
According to the National Park Service, the Overton Hygienic Building was built at the turn of the twentieth century in response to racial barriers that faced Black businesses. In 1898, entrepreneur Anthony Overton realized the center in Kansas City.
In 1911, he migrated to Chicago, where he extended his firm into baking powder, toilet preparations, and other extract goods. According to Black History Heroes, he later delved into full-line cosmetics and perfumes for ladies under his own High-Brown goods label.
Anthony and Martha Deberry Overton gave birth to Overton. He attended Washburn College and the University of Kansas, where he majored in law. He practiced law for a while after graduating from the University of Kansas Law School. He worked as a judge at some point in his career before deciding to start his own business.
Overton was a Chicago business tycoon during a period when Black enterprises flourished, offering a network to aspiring entrepreneurs. Around this time, he hired architect Erol Smith to design and build the Overton Hygienic Building in 1922 to house his various enterprises.
Apart from his primary focus on hygienic care products, Overton also owned the Chicago Bee newspaper franchise, Victory Life Insurance Company, Douglass National Bank, and Northern Realty Company. The Chicago Bee building was located in the realty company.
The Overton Hygienic Building was renamed the Palace Hotel at some stage before being taken up by the Mid-South Planning and Development Commission. The Commission expanded on Overton’s proposal by establishing the center as an incubator for new firms in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District neighborhood. Because of its importance in the survival of Black businesses, the center has been designated as a historic district in the Bronzeville District in the Douglas community area of Chicago, Illinois.
As much as the building housed multiple businesses, it also provided a synergy for growth for Black businesses to compete effectively. Overton Hygienic Company, which was part of Overton’s corporate empire, became synonymous with the brand of the United States’ largest producers of African-American cosmetics throughout time.
His Overton Hygienic Building also paved the way for the development of other enterprises by providing renting space to other Black professionals such as lawyers, architects, and doctors. From a distance, the Overton Hygienic Building seems to be a four-story structure with yellow wire-cut brick and glazed white terra cotta trim. A concrete frame reinforces its foundation. To allow for structural compromises, an elevator and mechanical shaft were installed two storeys above the roof level.
Overton’s bank and life insurance company occupied the ground floor, while the second floor housed rental spaces and other professional services. The remaining Overton businesses were located on the third and fourth floors.