A White-Collar Profession: African American Certified Public Accountants since 1921 [Paperback]

Theresa A. Hammond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0807853771 | ISBN-13: 978-0807853771

Among the major professions, certified public accountancy has the most severe underrepresentation of African Americans: less than one percent of CPAs are black. Theresa Hammond explores the history behind this statistic and chronicles the courage and determination of African Americans who sought to enter the field. In the process, she expands our understanding of the links between race, education, and economics.

Drawing on interviews with pioneering black CPAs, among other sources, Hammond sets the stories of black CPAs against the backdrop of the rise of accountancy as a profession, the particular challenges that African Americans trying to enter the field faced, and the strategies that enabled some blacks to become CPAs. Prior to the 1960s, few white-owned accounting firms employed African Americans. Only through nationwide networks established by the first black CPAs did more African Americans gain the requisite professional experience. The civil rights era saw some progress in integrating the field, and black colleges responded by expanding their programs in business and accounting. In the 1980s, however, the backlash against affirmative action heralded the decline of African American participation in accountancy and paved the way for the astonishing lack of diversity that characterizes the field today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Hammond's] research will help readers realize that a more diverse profession is in both their ethical and their economic interests, resulting--we can hope--in a happier tale about the twenty-first century. (Robert K. Elliott, past chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)

A thoroughly engaging and well-researched chronicling of the African American experience in one of the nation's most important and prominent professions. Hammond has broken new ground in the study of race and business. (David A. Thomas, author of Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America)

Not only a brilliant and poignant history of one significant profession; it speaks volumes about the larger struggle African Americans have waged since the early 1900s to secure their place in the American mainstream. (Lee A. Daniels, editor of The State of Black America)

From the Inside Flap

Hammond explores the history of African American exclusion from the field of certified public accountancy and tells the stories of the pioneering black CPAs who successfully negotiated the many barriers to entering what is today the least diverse of the major professions. --This text refers to the Unknown Binding edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (January 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807853771
• ISBN-13: 978-0807853771
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,054,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, Exhilarating Yet Heartrending, August 23, 2002

By 

Eugene Heyward (Peekskill, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A White-Collar Profession: African American Certified Public Accountants since 1921 (Paperback)

From my vantage point as a black CPA, this book is at once inspiring and uplifting yet heartrending and depressing. After having read about the trials and tribulations of the pioneers of my profession and of my race(who were/are heroic in some sense), I feel compelled to take advantage of today's opportunity out of respect for what they've done to pave the way for those who have followed.

The author does a fantastic job of taking an erstwhile research paper and making it extremely enjoyable to read. This book is must reading for CPAs in general and black CPAs in particular.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Duper!, July 19, 2002

By 

Henrik Wennerstrom (Key Biscayne, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A White-Collar Profession: African American Certified Public Accountants since 1921 (Paperback)

Ok, so maybe I haven't read the book, but since I doubt this is going to break best seller records, I figured I could give some information about the author.

She was my accounting professor last semester in a class called Accounting Information Systems. Theresa is funny, engaging and most importantly a very passionate individual, especially about the struggle for racial equality.

She is undoubtedly the first person to do any research on the subject, and in her powerpoint presentation of the book she unravels an interesting tale of the business world's most caucasian profession. The African americans which are the subject of her narrative show themselves are driven by their interest in this niche profession long after all hope has vanished. The quirky personalities of her story tell a story that sheds light upon the grit of the human spirit.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important, Moving, and Entertaining, August 6, 2002

By 

Daniel M Mont (Derwood, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A White-Collar Profession: African American Certified Public Accountants since 1921 (Paperback)

Hammond chronicles the stories of the remarkable individuals who blazed the trail for African-Americans in the accounting profession. Or I should say, began blazing the trail, because as Hammond points out it is still by far the most segregated profession. When most people hear "accounting" they think of something very dry and technical. But this book is far from that. You learn about the profession and how institutional racism operates, but always as a context for the amazing stories, struggles, and personalities that Hammond conveys. She obviously spent many hours interviewing these pioneers and she tells their stories with academic rigor, but also with compassion, respect, and a sense of humor.