By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
It can be a challenge to open a business in any era and that was especially true for an African American in the early to mid 1900s, but Herman E. Curtis defied those odds to open one of the first, and very successful, African American businesses in the City of Wyoming.
According to his grandson, Michael Curtis, who came to the WKTV studios to share his grandfather’s story through VOICES, Herman E. Curtis was a man of many talents, a pilot, a boat captain, and a well-known band leader with several groups in Michigan and surrounding states.
Curtis decided to add to that list and become a businessman. This was not an easy task for an African American as the banks were not as willing to give loans to those who were not white.
“He got himself a white business partner,” said Curtis, who serves as a board member at the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives. “So the business partner would go to the bank and to help get the loan, Herman added ‘ma’ to his last name, making it Curtisma.”
The business partner would bring the papers to Herman, who would sign them, Curtis said. The business partner would then take everything back to the bank with bank officials never actually meeting Herman.
Herman would open the General Paint and Body Shop across from the former GM plant on 36th Street and Buchanan. While the business is no longer around, the building at 3818 Buchanan is still there.
The General Paint and Body Shop was known for painting logos and images on trucks and trailers. Today that has mostly been replaced with decals. But back in the 1940s and 1950s, a lot of the work was done by hand and Herman’s shop along with another Ranco, which operated out of the same building, were famous for what they did. The owners of Ranco were Randy Brown and local artist Paul Collins.
“When we started, people were astonished that we could do this,” Collins said during a phone interview. “They had never done business with black folks before.”
Collins said they realized they were paving the way in breaking down stereotypes and building new business relationships between whites and blacks.
“I remember there was an Oldsmobile dealer who wanted to get some promotions painted on his windows,” Collins said. “We went there and he said he couldn’t believe that color boys could do such work.
“We made him a deal and told him if he let us paint the windows, if he didn’t like it, he didn’t have to pay for it. He gave us a chance and I even painted an image of him in one of the windows.”
Needless to say, the car dealership owner loved what he saw. Collins and Brown would become famous for their work and meet people such as Rich DeVos and Jay VanAndel. The business connections opened up doors for Collins to move on to become a full-time artist and Brown and him closed their business.
Herman E. Curtis also became very well respected in the community for his work and in fact, there was a street off of Hall near the U.S. 131 interchange that was named Herman E.Curtis. The street is now gone, but you can look back at old street maps to see it. Herman also was immortalized in the book “Bud, Not Buddy,” which was written by another grandchild, Christopher Paul Curtis. The book received numerous awards including an ALA Coretta Scott King Award and is used in educational curriculum.
For more about African American owned businesses and life in Grand Rapids, visit the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives, 87 Monroe Center NW. GRAAMA’s website is graama.org.
