America's Oldest Black Business That Survived 140 Years

Описание: This is the true story of John Thomas Ward, an Underground Railroad conductor in Columbus, Ohio—and the hidden origin story behind E. E. Ward Moving and Storage, widely recognized as the oldest continuously operating Black owned business in the United States. In this Black history documentary, we follow how a free-born Black man from Richmond, Virginia turned a wagon, a farm, and a reputation for reliability into something bigger than a company: a generational code of excellence that survived slavery’s shadow, the Fugitive Slave Act, the American Civil War, segregation, economic collapse, and the changing speed of America itself.

Before the business, there was the mission.
Before the contracts, there was the risk.
Before “Let Ward do it,” there were secret routes, safe houses, and a church built for resistance.

You’ll learn how Columbus became a freedom corridor, how Camp Chase turned the city into a war logistics hub, and how the same wagons that moved supplies and people in crisis became the blueprint for a company that kept rolling—generation after generation. This story connects directly to Underground Railroad history, Black entrepreneurship, and African American business legacy—the same audiences searching for Harriet Tubman, Fugitive Slave Act stories, Civil War era logistics, and how Black owned businesses survived segregation. If you watch content about Black Wall Street, Madam C. J. Walker, or hidden Black history in America, this documentary belongs in your rotation. What do you think mattered more in Ward’s survival—faith, strategy, or reputation?
And if you could “operationalize dignity” in your own life today, what would that look like in your work, your family, or your business? #BlackHistoryDocumentary #UndergroundRailroad #ColumbusOhio #BlackOwnedBusiness #AfricanAmericanHistory