Earlier this year, New York City made a laudable effort to recognize Wall Street’s role in slavery and the slave trade by installing a 16-by-24-inch memorial sign.
Yet given the current climate of race relations in the United States, the city might be asked to do more—specifically, to acknowledge that African Americans were not merely victims but active participants and even pioneers in the history of American capitalism, rather than only being relegated to roles as slaves or secondary investors in white enterprise.
Wall Street, in particular, offers a fitting backdrop to reassess how American narratives have long overlooked or deliberately erased black contributions, favoring a more comforting and sanitized history.
Even among professional historians, Wall Street is often portrayed in a one-dimensional, whitewashed manner—seen as the exclusive domain of families like the Morgans and the Lehmans. Conventional wisdom suggests that the furthest a black man ever advanced in that sphere was in a menial role, perhaps carrying loads or later, operating an elevator.
#HaitiFacts
Jeremiah Hamilton, Wall Street’s First Black Millionaire 🇭🇹 🇺🇸
He was the 1st Black millionaire & the only African American broker to join mid-19th-century New York’s millionaire’s club. By the time he died in 1875, he was known as the richest Black man in America. pic.twitter.com/bAAlTwDIP4— James Louis-Charles 🇭🇹 (@James_LouCha) February 6, 2024
This narrative, however, is far from the truth. In the mid-19th century, a black broker broke through the all-white New York business scene. Jeremiah G. Hamilton was not only Wall Street’s first black millionaire but also one of the earliest New Yorkers to be described with that term.
His bold exploits earned him the nickname “Prince of Darkness,” while others, less kindly, referred to him by a derogatory slur.
Rather than being a mere peripheral player, Hamilton proved to be a master of Wall Street—a skilled and innovative financial strategist. In the 1850s and 1860s, he managed what was known as a “pool,” a venture akin to a modern hedge fund. Investors trusted him with their funds, which he then used as leverage to secure additional capital and take assertive positions in the market.
White New Yorkers, eager to tap into this African American’s market insights regarding the prospects of publicly traded companies, would often lavish him with extravagant gifts such as baskets of champagne and boxes of cigars. (Hamilton was clear, however, that he accepted only the finest offerings.)
In general, many white businessmen were more intrigued by the color of Hamilton’s wealth than by his skin color. Nonetheless, the deck was stacked against someone infamously known as the Prince of Darkness.
In the mid-1830s, the leaders of New York’s marine insurance companies collectively decided that they would not insure any vessel linked to Hamilton. Then, in the mid-1840s, the New Board—a secondary stock exchange in New York—adopted a resolution declaring that because J.G. Hamilton had allegedly grossly insulted one of its members, all board members were forbidden from engaging in business with him under penalty of expulsion.
One writer even suggested that the real reason for the ban was simply that Hamilton was a man of color.
Despite these formidable obstacles, Hamilton continued to amass wealth. When he passed away in May 1875, newspapers nationwide acknowledged him as the richest black man in the United States, with his fortune estimated at $2 million—equivalent to over $250 million today.
His life was nothing short of dramatic and cinematic. Here was a black man who achieved great wealth in the midst of the American racial nightmare—a nightmare compounded by the fact that he was married to a white woman.
Yet Jeremiah Hamilton’s legacy has all but vanished. His name has appeared in print only four times since the early 20th century, and three of those instances are marked by inaccuracies or confusion. In essence, Hamilton has been excised from the usable history of the nation.
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It is vital for current and future generations to understand that New York’s African American history is far more diverse and rich than the simplistic narratives of slavery, poverty, and the Harlem Renaissance suggest.
Despite challenging established views of 19th-century New York, Jeremiah Hamilton was a prosperous African American broker who spent over 40 years on Wall Street, frequently outmaneuvering his white counterparts on their own turf.
As for enshrining his memory with another Wall Street sign, that might not be the most fitting tribute. There are other ways to honor his legacy. Hamilton was passionate about newspapers—he wrote for them, and for a time, James Gordon Bennett, the founder of the New York Herald, even considered him as the potential new owner of the New York Sun.
Perhaps, for now, a well-crafted newspaper feature could more appropriately capture his remarkable story.