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{{Short description|American businessman (1935–2020)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               =  Earl Gilbert Graves Sr.
| image              =  Earl_Graves_sr._2004.jpg
| alt                = Earl G. Graves, Sr. in 2004
| caption            = Graves in 2004
| birth_name         =  Earl Gilbert Graves
| birth_date         = {{birth date|mf=yes|1935|01|09}}
| birth_place        =  Brooklyn, [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2020|04|06|1935|01|09}}
| death_place        =  [[White Plains, New York]], U.S.
| occupation         =  {{Hlist | Entrepreneur | publisher | businessman | philanthropist | advocate}}
| alma_mater         =  [[Morgan State University]]
| years_active       =
| works              =
| spouse             = Barbara
| children           = 3 including [[Earl G. Graves Jr.]]
}}
'''Earl Gilbert Graves Sr.''' (January 9, 1935 – April 6, 2020) was an  American  [[entrepreneur]], [[publisher]], businessman, [[philanthropist]], and advocate of [[African-American businesses]].  A graduate of [[Morgan State University]], he was the founder of ''[[Black Enterprise]]'' magazine and chairman of the media company Earl G. Graves, Ltd.  He was the director for [[Aetna]] and [[National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America|Executive Board]] member of the [[Boy Scouts of America]].<ref name="blackenterprise.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.blackenterprise.com/earl-graves-jr-barbara-graves-women-power-my-mothers-legacy/|title=Women of Power: My Mother's Legacy|author=Earl "Butch" Graves Jr.|work=Black Enterprise|date=March 10, 2015|publisher=}}</ref> He was the father of [[Earl G. Graves Jr.]]
==Background==
Born in [[Brooklyn, New York]], to Earl Graves, an immigrant from Barbados, and Winifred (Sealy) Graves, who was from Trinidad. Graves grew up in the [[Bedford-Stuyvesant]] section of [[New York City]].  A member of [[Omega Psi Phi]] fraternity, he received a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in economics in 1958 from [[Morgan State University]].<ref>{{cite web| url =  https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/earl-g-graves-sr-40| title = Earl Gilbert Graves Sr.| work = History Makers}}</ref>  He was an [[ROTC]] graduate and attended [[Airborne School|Airborne]] and [[Ranger School|Ranger]] Schools.<ref name="blackenterprise.com"/>
Having written a letter to the [[Democratic National Committee]], he became a volunteer for the 1964 presidential campaign of [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. His work with the party gave Graves the opportunity to serve as administrative assistant to newly elected Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]] in 1965.  Following the assassination of the senator, Graves would land a seat on the advisory board of the [[Small Business Administration]] (SBA) in 1968.
==Business ventures==
He undertook his first job at the age of seven selling boxed Christmas cards for his uncle. His territory was severely limited due to his father's rule that he could only sell to people living on their side of the block.
While at Morgan State University, Graves made a name for himself as an entrepreneur. Realizing that there was a big market for flowers during Homecoming Week, he went to two competing local florists and cut deals with both to sell flowers on campus. For a percentage of the profits, the florists provided the flowers while Graves covered the campus.
His time serving on the SBA's advisory board and his direct work with the agency would lead Graves to his belief in the need for advice to businesses in economic development and urban affairs, which convinced him to create an annual newsletter that would chronicle issues relevant to black business people, and raise awareness of the importance of black consumer power.  At the suggestion of then SBA Director [[Howard J. Samuels]], Graves would expand the concept of a newsletter into a full-fledged magazine.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3dXw6gR2GgkC&q=Howard+samuels+robert+kennedy&pg=PA349|title=African American Lives|first1=Henry Louis Jr.|last1=Gates|first2=Evelyn Brooks|last2=Higginbotham|date=April 29, 2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9780199882861}}</ref>
Graves started Earl G. Graves, Ltd, and under that holding company he began the Earl G. Graves Associates management consulting firm. In August 1970, the first issue of ''[[Black Enterprise]]'' magazine would hit newsstands.  Earl G. Graves, Ltd would grow to include a number of divisions including publishing, marketing, radio, television and event coordinating arms. The firm is the co-owner of the private equity fund Black Enterprise Greenwich Street Corporate Growth Fund, an equity partnership formed with Travelers Group, Inc.  The fund aims to invest and promote minority operated businesses.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.earl_g_graves_ltd.bbe8a44397a6b272.html | title= Earl G. Graves LTD | work = Hoovers}}</ref>
In 1990, Graves and [[Magic Johnson]] purchased the [[Pepsi Cola]] bottling franchise in [[Washington D.C.]], and Graves served as CEO until 1998, when he sold his ownership to Pepsi.<ref name=BlackEnter>{{cite web|url=https://www.blackenterprise.com/45-great-moments-in-black-business-no-30-earl-graves-sr-and-magic-johnson-close-60-million-deal-to-create-largest-black-pepsi-franchise/|title=45 GREAT MOMENTS IN BLACK BUSINESS – NO. 30: EARL GRAVES SR. AND MAGIC JOHNSON CLOSE $60 MILLION DEAL TO CREATE LARGEST BLACK PEPSI FRANCHISE|author=Derek T. Dingle|date=August 31, 2017|access-date=May 4, 2021|publisher=Black Enterprise}}</ref><ref name="eu.usatoday">[https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/04/07/earl-graves-sr-founder-black-enterprise-magazine-dies-85/2959923001/ Black Enterprise founder Earl Graves Sr. dies at 85] eu.usatoday.com, Brett Molina, 7 April 2020</ref>  He held board and director memberships with a number of other corporations, including [[AMR Corporation]], [[Daimler AG]], [[Federated Department Stores]] and [[Rohm and Haas]], as well as board member of the [[American Museum of Natural History]] and [[Hayden Planetarium]] in New York City. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of [[Howard University]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://people.forbes.com/profile/earl-g-graves/1962|title= Earl G. Graves Associates | work = Forbes|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100317232120/https://people.forbes.com/profile/earl-g-graves/1962 |archive-date= March 17, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.forbes.com/2007/09/04/mazzuca-ceos-leaders-lead-citizen-cx_mk_0904scouts_slide.html |title= Scouts In The Big Office | work = Forbes | date = September 4, 2007 }}</ref>
==Awards and other accomplishments==
Graves received the [[Silver Buffalo Award]] from the [[Boy Scouts of America]] in 1988, and served as the [[National Commissioner of the Boy Scouts of America|National Commissioner]] from 1985 to 1994.  He received the [[NAACP]]'s [[Spingarn Medal]] in 1999.  In 2002, Graves was named as one of the 50 most powerful and influential African Americans in corporate America by ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' magazine.
Graves was appointed by the administration of [[George W. Bush]] to serve on the Presidential Commission for the [[National Museum of African American History and Culture]].  On April 26, 2007, Earl G. Graves Sr. was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.  In 2009, he became the recipient of the 2009 [[NCAA]] Silver Anniversary Award.
In his honor, [[Morgan State University]]'s business school was named Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management. It was opened in 2015.
A "special thanks" to Mr. Graves is included in [[Bayer Mack]]'s documentary ''[[No Lye: An American Beauty Story]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11177444/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr4 | title= Earl G. Graves Sr. | work = IMDb}}</ref>
==Death==
Graves died in [[White Plains, New York]], on April 6, 2020, from complications of [[Alzheimer's disease]] at the age of 85.<ref>{{cite web|last=Slotnik|first=Daniel E.|date=April 10, 2020|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/business/media/earl-g-graves-sr-dead.html|title=Earl G. Graves Sr., a Voice for Black Entrepreneurs, Dies at 85|newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=April 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Earl Graves Sr., Founder of Black Enterprise And Ultimate Champion of Black Business, Passes Away At 85 |url=https://www.blackenterprise.com/earl-graves-sr-founder-of-black-enterprise-and-ultimate-champion-of-black-business-passes-away-at-85/ |accessdate=April 7, 2020 |publisher=BlackEnterprise.com |date=April 7, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/us/earl-graves-black-enterprise-death-trnd/index.html|title=Earl G. Graves Sr., founder of Black Enterprise, dies|first=Leah |last=Asmelash|website=CNN|date=April 7, 2020 |access-date=April 8, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==External links==
* {{cite web|url= http://www.blackenterprise.com/bios/earl-graves |title= Profile  | work = blackenterprise.com| date = March 10, 2015}}
* {{cite web|url= http://www.cnn.com/specials/2002/black.history/stories/09.graves  |title= Black History MonthProfile  | work = CNN.com| date = 2002 }}
* {{cite web|url= http://www.howard.edu/convocation/2003/convocationbio2.htm |title= Opening Convocation | work = Howard University | date = 2002 }}
* {{C-SPAN|18054}}
{{Spingarn Medal}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Earl G. Sr.}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American businesspeople]]
[[Category:African-American company founders]]
[[Category:American Airlines people]]
[[Category:American company founders]]
[[Category:American people of Barbadian descent]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Erasmus Hall High School alumni]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New York City]]
[[Category:Morgan State University alumni]]
[[Category:National commissioners of the Boy Scouts of America]]
[[Category:New York (state) Democrats]]
[[Category:People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Scarsdale, New York]]
[[Category:Politicians from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American businesspeople]]
[[Category:African-American history of Westchester County, New York]]