This is just a little peek into the fascinating story of a Black Woman Entrepreneur, who rose to become a millionaire in the 1800s. Thought to have been born on August 19, 1814, in either Philadelphia, Virginia or on a Georgia plantation, and passed as white. Research indicates that Pleasant was most likely born an enslaved person but got her freedom at an early age…how is another mystery. According to some historians, Pleasant played a key role in helping to finance John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in Virginia, an unsuccessful revolt by Black enslaved persons and white abolitionists in 1859. Pleasant also gave shelter to a fugitive enslaved person, Archie Lee when he was on the run in California. As a young adult, she worked in the Underground Railroad, ushering enslaved people out of the South into the northern states, the east, and the west and became the "Mother of Civil Rights" in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush of 1849.
Pleasant moved to San Francisco while working as a cook and housekeeper. That role made her someone easily overlooked and Pleasant eavesdropped on conversations of wealthy patrons in the hopes of overhearing valuable nuggets of information. She took what she learned to help her build a substantial fortune and eventually became one of the richest women in the city. Pleasant was an astute investor whose portfolio included real estate investment properties, restaurants, railroads, laundries, boarding houses and even property in Canada. A tough capitalist with abolitionist zeal, an entrepreneur and a revolutionary, Mary Ellen Pleasant defied the norms of her time to become a leading figure in the struggle for equal rights.
Pleasant lived a kind of double life. While most of San Francisco knew her as a white woman, the Black community knew that she was Black and fighting for abolition. She was a major link in the Underground Railroad, a funder of slave revolts across the country and a pillar of the burgeoning Black community in the city. All American Descendants of Slavery knew that if they wanted something they could go to her and somehow, she could use her influence and she would get it. Pleasant could get them housing, jobs, loans, and legal charges dropped. She made it popular for high society to hire Black people. She was determined to make it big and bring her people with her.
Pleasant’s wealth however could not shield her from anti-Black racism. In 1866, a streetcar conductor in San Francisco refused to let her board because she was Black. Outraged Pleasant sued. The case went all the way to the California Supreme Court. In a historic decision, the lower court ruled that segregation on streetcars was illegal in California and Pleasant was awarded damages. However, the Supreme Court reversed the decision and Pleasant lost the her right to damages. Mary Ellen Pleasant went onto continue blazing a path for others even as she faced a dimming of her reputation and wealth.
Many thanks to GRuB Growing Home Collective advisory group member Stephanie Cholmondeley, for this contribution. Visit her on FB at Blackass Foodways Culturist for more about the incredible life of Mary Ellen Pleasant.
