Bernard S. Garrett Sr. was an African-American businessperson, investor and banker. One of the first wealthy African-American entrepreneurs in America, he is credited with being the first African-American man to own banks in the United States; specifically owning & controlling white banks in the state of Texas in Civil Rights America.
Early life and education
Garrett was born in Willis, Texas. He completed 11th grade in Houston, Texas and married his first wife, Eunice. They had a son, Bernard Garrett Jr. He and Eunice separated and divorced in 1959. He met Linda Marie Guillemette in 1960 and they married in 1962. By 1963, Bernard & Linda had amassed an empire of wealth in real estate all over California, buying the prestigious Bankers Building in 1963 in downtown, Los Angeles. They marched with MLK on Washington together in 1963. Together they have six children: Cynthia, Britton, Sheila, Steven, Christopher, Antonio. They acquired their first bank in Texas in 1964 going on to buy an additional 4 banks and savings & loans. A racist Democratic power base in civil rights America eventually found a way to stop Bernard & Linda's growing banking control of white banks in Texas. Senator McClellan from Arkansas brought Bernard, Sr before the Senate Investigations Committee in 1965 in a case that would change banking laws forever. Bernard Sr & Linda hired the famed Melvin Belli to defend him along with Joe Tonahill - who simultaneously defended Jack Ruby. Bernard Sr was sentenced in 1967, to a stay at Terminal Island Federal Facility in Long Beach, California, shortly after his second daughter Sheila, was born. Bernard Sr & Linda built another real estate empire with an eye on becoming early investors in the newly independent country of The Bahamas. By 1974 they moved their tribe of 6 children to the Bahamas to run a large boat marina they bought - while awaiting bank charter approval to own banks in the Bahamas. Bernard Sr & Linda hoped to own Banks in the Bahamas - until they encountered a Banking Charter denial because of his prior racist conviction in Texas. They eventually moved back to the United States. They divorced in 1977-78. Bernard went on to meet and marry his final wife, Kathy Ussery. They have 2 sons, Sullivan & Bernal. Bernard Garrett Sr died in 1999. Linda Garrett is still alive and living in a home they bought together in Los Angeles, California. Kathy Garrett is still alive and living in Los Angeles.
Career
Garrett started and ran a cleaning business in Texas. In 1945, the family moved to California where Garrett started another cleaning business and a wastepaper collection business. When Garrett wanted to buy an apartment building in a white neighborhood in Los Angeles, he worked out a deal with the owner, a Mr. Barker, who, along with a bank, loaned Garrett money to renovate the apartment units. Garrett was successful in renting the units to black residents and in paying back the loans. He and Barker formed a partnership investing in real estate. In 1954, Garrett was worth $1.5 million. He proposed a deal to Joseph B. Morris, a UCLA grad and black businessman who had once owned two nightclubs, that they purchase real estate together. Joe and his wife Cora became friends with Linda & Bernard Sr. Together they bought the Banker's Building, considered the tallest building in Los Angeles. They succeeded by having Linda, whose skin was very fair, and sometimes other white faces, pretend to be the faces of their empire and appearing to run their operations while, in fact, Garrett and Morris were the owners and actual operators of the properties. Morris & Garrett went on to purchase multiple banks, and savings & loans, in Texas. A version of Bernard & Joe's story was made into a movie in 2019, The Banker. The movie documents how the two of them contributed to breaking the color barriers in the real estate and banking industries, facilitating the integration of neighborhoods and enabling African-Americans to finance houses and businesses, opportunities that had been denied to them because of the prevailing racist banking practices. In Bernard Garrett Sr's lifetime, he built a real estate and banking portfolio worth tens of millions of dollars, which equates to well over $100m in today's dollars. In 2020, The family established The Bernard Garrett Sr Foundation, a public foundation focused on financial literacy and opportunity for African-Americans.
