From slaves to servant leaders: remembering the contributions of John Merrick and Alonzo Herndon
ISSN: 1746-5680
Article publication date: 9 January 2018
Issue publication date: 30 May 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to knowledge in the field of business by recognizing two historic entrepreneurs who played an important role in the African-American community, and by viewing their contributions through the lens of servant leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is conducted by reviewing and synthesizing a number of writings from sources, such as history journals, newspapers and other resources.
Findings
The main finding is that two former slaves (Merrick and Herndon) practiced servant leadership in the early twentieth century as a way to create jobs and transform communities.
Originality/value
The contributions made by African-Americans have not been adequately covered in the literature. This paper begins to fill a noticeable void by highlighting the contributions of two former slaves who managed to become successful servant leaders within their communities.
Keywords
Citation
Prieto, L.C., Phipps, S.T.A. and Mathur-Helm, B. (2018), "From slaves to servant leaders: remembering the contributions of John Merrick and Alonzo Herndon", Society and Business Review, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 140-150. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBR-11-2017-0104
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited