This article uses the records of the National Negro Business League (NNBL) to examine the economic life and experiences of African American entrepreneurs between 1900 and 1920. Often referred to as the ‘golden age’ of Black business, this era saw the proliferation of African American owned businesses, despite the increase in discrimination and racial persecution that had characterized the United States since the turn of the century. Far from merely a platform to reaffirm the ideology of its founder Booker T. Washington, the League enabled a diverse group of business owners, entrepreneurs and professional men and women to exchange ideas and help one another navigate the segregated and uneven infrastructures of American capitalism. The protocols of the League’s annual conventions offer a window into the world of Black proprietors and shopkeepers. Specifically, the personal accounts delivered at these events reveal the experimental commercial sphere that existed next to the well-established trade and business institutions of corporate capitalism. They also demonstrate that the members of the NNBL were a progressive force: they confounded gender norms by carving a place for women within the formal Black business establishment and they diversified the economic playing field by charting alternative narratives of business success.

中文翻译：

---

全国黑人商业联盟和黑人企业家的经济生活

本文使用全国黑人商业联盟 (NNBL) 的记录来考察 1900 年至 1920 年间非裔美国企业家的经济生活和经历。这个时代通常被称为黑人商业的“黄金时代”，见证了非洲裔美国人的扩散美国拥有的企业，尽管自世纪之交以来美国的歧视和种族迫害有所增加。该联盟不仅仅是重申其创始人布克·T·华盛顿 (Booker T. Washington) 的意识形态的平台，它还使多元化的企业主、企业家和职业男女能够交流思想，并相互帮助驾驭美国资本主义的隔离和不平衡的基础设施。联盟年度大会的协议为了解黑人业主和店主的世界提供了一个窗口。具体来说，在这些活动中提供的个人账户揭示了与公司资本主义的成熟贸易和商业机构相邻的实验性商业领域。他们还表明，NNBL 的成员是一股进步的力量：他们通过在正式的黑人商业机构中为女性开辟一席之地来混淆性别规范，他们通过绘制商业成功的替代叙事来使经济竞争环境多样化。