"Sidney Barthwell"{February 17,1906-June 25-2005)

Founder of the once largest black owned drugstore chain in the United States,was born Cordele,Georgia.As a young man he attended Lucius H.Holsey Academy of Excellence in Fitzgerald.In 1922,Sidney,left Georgia when he was 14 to join his father in Chicago and found work in a meat packing plant.Sidney attended the prestigious Cass Technical High School where he enrolled in a course that specialized in pharmacological sciences.After graduating from high school in 1925,he then attended Detroit Technological Institute ( now Wayne State University's College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions) graduating in 1929 with a bachelor's degree in pharmacy.Sidney was so poor at the time that the dean of the college had to loan him $25 to pay for his diploma.His Alma mater later honored him by establishing the Sidney Barthwell Endowed Scholarship in 1996 for African-American students pursuing pharmacy.Despite possessing a college degree,Sidney initially struggled to find work in the discriminatory atmosphere of the early 1930s.The pharmacy that eventually did hire him was not unlicensed,but was quickly evident that the business was financially insolvent.Undeterred,he took over the failed pharmacy in 1933 and renamed it Barrthwell Drugs.It did not take long for Sidney to become a well-known and much respected figure in Detroit.He made a point to help blacks by either employing them or finding them work with other pharmacists.Dozens of pharmacists would later claim they had their start at one of Sidney's stores.Sidney began opening a new store about every two years until he had 13 stores around Detroit.It was not unusual at the time for pharmacies to have soda fountain and sell ice cream.Three of his stores sold exclusively.Although he did expand steadily,it was often difficult for Sidney to get loans from banks and he would often have to get more than one loan to finance a new store.This situation stemmed partly from discriminatory banking policies at the time,also due to the economic instability of the Depression.Bartwell Drugs stores eventually became a substantial source of employment during the harsh economic times,especially with young black people.Shopping malls and national chains eventually drove Barthwell Drugs out of business,the last closing in 1987.Sidney was also the African American member of the Detroit Retail Druggist Association,president of the Booker T. Washington Business Association,a lifelong member of the NAACP,and a charter member of the Alpha Beta chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi at Wayne State University.He married his wife,Gladys,on Christmas Day 1936 after a full day of  work in his store.They had two children,Akosua and Sidney Jr.Sidney Sr. died in Detroit.

I assume the woman in the picture is his wife.