National Black Business Month is celebrated every August as a way to honor Black entrepreneurs and business owners making a difference in their communities.
Frederick E. Jordan, an engineer, teamed up with John William Templeton, a historian, to establish National Black Business Month back in 2004. The duo wanted a tangible way to acknowledge the millions of Black-owned businesses across the country, as well as the profound impact Black entrepreneurs have always had on advancing our economy.
These individuals have persevered through a slew of personal and professional difficulties over the course of hundreds of years. From enslavement to Jim Crow Laws to wage gaps and ongoing violence, Black business owners have had to overcome unimaginably cruel circumstances to build their success.
One of these individuals, William Hobdy, found himself in the thick of systemic racism and segregation when he set out to establish Star Cleaning & Repairing Co. in Derry, New Hampshire, in 1899.
Hobdy set up shop in what is now known as Abbott House, located at 10 West Broadway. He’s the very first Black business owner on record in the town, and he was able to create a career for himself in Derry Depot through his talent, kindness, and unwavering dedication to pursuing his dreams, no matter what obstacles were placed before him. Hobdy was also a musician, a proud participant in his community, and a trailblazer.
In honor of National Black Business Month, let us tell you the story of how a young man from Virginia went on to make history in the Granite State.
William Hobdy lived and worked in Derry for 17 years
According to historical records, William Hobdy was born in 1862 in Virginia. It’s unclear which town or city he specifically resided in before his family relocated to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he eventually grew up. Hobdy worked in a local cotton mill before moving to Derry, New Hampshire.
By all accounts from that time, he had a reputation for being a hard worker. Hobdy held many different roles in town, working as a chimney cleaner, umpire, shoe shiner, house cleaner, and musician. He would entertain guests at parties held in town before going on to play at concerts orchestrated throughout the summers between 1900 and 1915 at both Adams Memorial Hall and West Windham Hall.
With each job he completed and show he performed, Hobdy became increasingly popular with his fellow residents. However, he was one of only a handful of Black people in Derry, and he faced ongoing racism and segregation even as his various business ventures boomed.
He expressed a desire to join the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal order, but ended up heading back to Lawrence to go to a “colored lodge” instead. By genealogy and reference librarian Erin Moulton Robinson’s account, despite this, Hobdy remained deeply involved in his community throughout his time in Derry.
She told Derry News in 2023 that it was “a joy” to look into his life for the Derry Public Library and how he became the first Black business owner on record in town. The one thing she never came across, though? A picture of Hobdy, which she says she’d “love to find” in order to put a face to the name. Perhaps someone will stumble across a photo of him in a forgotten corner of their attic one day.
He was honored with a marker on the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire
Exact details regarding William Hobdy’s life and the daily operations of his Star Cleaning & Repairing Co. are, sadly, almost impossible to find. The only things we know about him for sure are the select references Erin Moulton Robinson was able to find while extensively researching his life.
To make sure he would never be forgotten, the executive director of New Hampshire’s Black Heritage Trail, JerriAnne Boggis, wanted to acknowledge his accomplishments with an official marker placed in Derry in 2023.
Located along the town’s Rail Trail, Hobdy’s marker reads, “William Hobdy was the first known Black business owner in Derry, NH. Born in Virginia in 1862 to a father who had been enslaved, he worked in the Lawrence, MA cotton mills before moving to Derry and founding the Star Cleaning and Repairing Company in 1899.
He was perhaps best known as a pianist and played at popular venues, held Derry’s first known ragtime ball, and hosted ice cream cafes for the community.”
The placard goes on to say, “There were few Black residents in Derry at the time and Hobdy’s musical accomplishments outweigh the labor he often took to support himself, his wife Maud (Hogan) who was Black and their informally adopted daughter Rose who was white. After Hobdy died in 1918, his widow supported herself as a laundress.”
Boggis said the position of Hobdy’s Heritage Trail marker was chosen to be located near where he operated his cleaning business. As she told Derry News, “It’s part of the town’s history and we are also building that understanding — Once something is visible, it’s not forgotten.” Robinson agrees with this notion, which is why she spent countless hours digging through archives to uncover as much information about him as she possibly could.
Of Hodby, Robinson said, “He wanted to build community and worked very hard. He entertained and brought great joy. He really did bring people together.” Now, 127 years later, his memory lives on in all of those who pass by his Rail Trail marker every day. We might not be able to hear him play the piano, or attend one of his ice cream cafes, or exchange a few words of kindness with him while he’s cleaning, but we can stop and take a moment to honor his legacy.
It is these quiet instances of reflection that contribute to the importance of celebrating National Black Business Month every August. Without these trailblazers and pioneers, our communities would falter. That’s why the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire continues to honor those who made the Granite State better, and why it’s important to support local Black-owned businesses every day.
This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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