About

Located: 202 Connelly St, Suite 209
The ACBCC offices are located in the renovated historic former Good Samaritan Hospital, San Antonio's only Black hospital during segregation. It is on the extended campus of St. Philip's College, our local HBCU.

1938, Our Beginning

Our Story...

The Alamo City Black Chamber of Commerce (ACBCC) was founded in 1938 as the Negro Chamber of Commerce, when one woman and 12 men decided to form an organization to address the business needs of the Black community in San Antonio, Texas.

The San Antonio Negro Chamber of Commerce was formed as an outgrowth of a program by the local chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity’s Bigger and Better Business Week. Following the preliminary organizational work, a special meeting was held on Monday, May 23, 1938 at the Pine Street branch YWCA to elect officers for the new chamber.

At that meeting, Thomas L. Holley, a local teacher who was one of the city’s most progressive and civic-minded citizens, was elected president after his significant contributions to jumpstart the organization. Other inaugural elected officers were Elisha Thompson, vice president; U.J. Andrews, executive secretary; G.J. Sutton, recording secretary; J.O. Aycock, assistant secretary; and Albert Lewis, treasurer. Board members were H. Dotry, Herbert Mouton, O.E. Fitzgerald, Euretta K. Fairchild, Curits Parrish, Brown L. Bracken and Arthur Bolton. Twenty-three community organizations made up the charter membership.

Since that time, the ACBCC's executive directors, staff, and board members have continued to carry the torch to advance and grow local businesses and organizations. All have worked hard to move the Black community, other communities of color, the City of San Antonio, and that state of Texas to their next best levels.

Our Current Name

Our name was changed in 1964 to what it is today, the Alamo City Black Chamber of Commerce.

Since the beginning, the chamber’s primary focus has been the business, professional, and economic development of individual members and their businesses. While times have changed, our focus of connecting and building businesses and our local, regional, and national communities, as well as our legacy of building growth and prosperity, still contribute greatly to creating a better greater San Antonio, Texas and U.S.

Today

Previously housed in San Antonio's famous Hemisphere Park, today the ACBCC's offices are now located on the extended campus of the HBCU, St. Philip's College. Appropriately, offices are located in the renovated Good Samaritan Veterans Outreach Center at 202 Connelly Street, on the city's East side. As can be seen on the well-preserved front side of the 1915 constructed building, this is the historic site of the Corinth Baptist Church that was converted into the Good Samaritan Hospital, San Antonio's only Black hospital during the segregated days of the Jim Crow South.

Currently, ACBCC's membership represents all facets of the Alamo City's business community. Our organization's members are from a wide array of business, community, non-profit, and civic organizations. They include: social media content creators; executives from big and medium corporations; entrepreneurs, tech executives; brewers; contractors; new energy workers; florists; bankers; clergy; electric vehicle workers; engineers; nurses; directors; sustainability specialists; veterans; DJs; attorneys; designers; global strategists; architects; staffing agency owners; healthcare workers; retailers; investors; restaurateurs; bakers and caterers; marketers; agency owners; educators; virtual course creators; grocers; new media specialists; club owners; analysts; stylists; salon owners; artists; insurance, real estate, and stock brokers; managers; futurists; researchers; government officials; life coaches; logistics coordinators; accountants; entertainers; and many other professionals.