Name Barbara Proctor | ||
Barbara Gardner Proctor Interview (1989) | First Black Woman To Own Ad Agency #RIP
Barbara Gardner Proctor (born 1933) was the first African American woman to own and operate an advertising agency.
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Career
She worked for the Veejay Records Company, and eventually became director of its International Division. In 1964 she was hired by the Post-Keyes-Gardner Agency, where she began using her married name Proctor so as to not share a name with one of the agency partners. She won 21 awards in three years at that agency. In 1969 she worked at Gene Taylor Associates as a copy supervisor, and later that year worked at North in a similar position. But she thought that at North she was limited to dealing with beauty and household products, and that the company focused on pleasing the customer rather than selling the product. Therefore, she began her own advertising agency in 1970, called Proctor and Gardner Advertising, Inc.
Awards
In 1975 she was chosen as "Advertising Person of the Year" by the sixth district of the American Advertising Federation. In 1976 she was elected as the first African-American women to head the Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce. She was the president of the National League of Black Women from 1978 to 1982. In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured her name and picture. She received the 1980 Headliner Award from the Association for Women in Communications. From 1983 to 1984, she was the cochair of the Gannon-Proctor Commission, which was appointed by the governor of Illinois to study the economy of Illinois. She was cited by President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union address, and was included in his 1986 special report "Risk to Riches: Women and Entrepreneurship in America." The Smithsonian Institution also featured her in its "Black Women Achievement against the Odds Hall of Fame.