Knowing Who I Am
A Black Entrepreneur’s Struggle and Success
in the American South
Earl M. Middleton with Joy W. Barnes
A third-generation native of Orangeburg, South Carolina, Earl M. Middleton has
prospered in ways few African Americans have in the rural South. As owner of a
successful business that cuts across racial lines and as a political leader in the cause of
civil rights, Middleton has garnered hard-won recognition for his efforts from blacks
and whites alike. His life story is at once illustrative of dynamic developments in
Southern race relations over the past eight decades and inspirational in telling how
one individual capitalized on those changes to perpetuate a legacy of entrepreneurship and service.
Born in 1919, Middleton is the youngest of six children. His father was a carpenter, and his mother was in one of the first graduating classes of what is now South
Carolina State University. Middleton himself graduated from Clafin College, Orangeburg’s predominantly black Methodist school.
A veteran of World War II, Middleton was trained as a Tuskegee Airman in 1942
and then served as an infantry soldier in the Pacific theater. Returning to Orangeburg in 1946, he became a barber and then a restaurant owner before finding his
true vocation as a real-estate and insurance salesman. What is now one of the largest
and most profitable real-estate firms in Orangeburg began as a sideline in the back of
a barbershop, but Middleton quickly developed a reputation for superior knowledge
and service.
Middleton was a leader in South Carolina’s Republican Party, but along with
many black Republicans, he switched to the Democratic Party in 1960. In 1974 he
was among the first wave of twentieth-century African Americans to be elected to
the South Carolina General Assembly, where he served for a decade. There he was
a founding member of the Legislative Black Caucus and an influential voice on the
U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
Earl M. Middleton is the founder
and owner of Coldwell Banker
Middleton and Associates. He has
been profiled in the Wall Street Journal
and honored by numerous state and
civic organizations.
A graduate of Clemson University,
Joy W. Barnes has worked at the
Middleton companies since 1972.
February 2008, 216 pages, 42 illus.
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