Black Mail Blog

Black History:  Special Delivery!!

Joseph Searles became the first African American member of the New York Stock Exchange on February 13, 1970, when he was employed as a floor trader and partner of Newburger, Loeb and Co.  Searles grew up in Ft. Hood, TX. In college he was a stand-out football player at Kansas University. After KSU, he graduated from George Washington University Law School. He then played for the New York Giants in the 1960’s. There were only a few black players in the league at the time. His success bothered many people. He was asked to cut his afro and hide his car (a green Jaguar) when coming to practices. He played for the Giants until 1967.

Searles played for the Giants until 1967. Soon after, he entered politics, working for Mayor John Lindsey. Searles also had two gubernatorial appointments as Chairman and Director of the State of New York Mortgage Agency where he was responsible for municipal housing issues totaling more than $600 million. It was after this time working in government that he took the job working on the NY Stock Exchange as its first black floor trader.

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Did you check out our trivia question posted earlier today?  Click the link and take the trivia quiz!  Answers will be posted at 6pm EST.

https://blackmail4u.wordpress.com/2015/10/17/black-mail-trivia-who-was-the-first-african-american-to-run-for-president-in-the-u-s/