Most African-American businesses did not receive front page notice in the Athens Banner when they opened, but Sidney Thompson was married to Dr. Blanche Thompson, a stockholder of the E. D. Harris Drug Company, and practicing physician who treated both black and white patients, according to the Athens Daily Herald's Business Supplement from 13 August 1914. She was the first African-American doctor in Athens to perform a surgery, and established her own sanitarium for tuberculosis treatment.
Unlike other African-American businesses at the time, Thompson's Bakery would advertise daily specials, such as 5-cent sweet cream biscuits, in the pages of the Athens Banner, alongside ads for white businesses such as Erwin & Company Real Estate, fire pails from Hardeman & Phinizy, and paint offerings from Bondurant Hardware Company. For many years, the Thompson's Bakery was included in the Banner's lists of factories when boasting of Athens' manufacturing prowess.
Learn More:
- Athens Banner, Jan. 1911 - Jun. 1911 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
- Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
- A Story Untold: Black Men and Women in Athens History by Michael L. Thurmond in the Heritage, general, and YA collections.
- Athens: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
- 1910 U.S. Census for Athens, Clarke County, Georgia in Ancestry Library Edition via GALILEO.
- Blacks in Science and Medicine by Vivian O. Sammons in the Reference collection.
- A Taste of Freedom: A Cookbook with Recipes and Remeberances from the Hampton Institute by Carolyn Quick Tillery in the general collection.
- The Soul of Success: Inspiring Quotations for Entrepreneurs by Janet Cheatham Bell in the general collection.
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