Blankinship Distributors

One of Kansas City’s best known black businessmen, G. Lawrence Blankinship Sr. was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 1913 and moved to Kansas City as a teenager. A graduate of Lincoln High School, he learned the pharmacy profession, managed the Crown Drug store at 18th & Vine, and in 1947 started his own business. The company became Blankinship Distributors Inc., a wholesale supplier of African American beauty products. Blankinship Distributors supplied hundreds of sales outlets, mainly drugstores, with hair care and cosmetic products developed for a burgeoning, often overlooked African American market.

Blankinship’s national reputation as a successful entrepreneur complemented that of a tireless community leader and advocate for black economic development. With Bruce Watkins, whom he succeeded, he was among the first African Americans on the Kansas City Council. Blankinship also served on numerous influential boards, including the Douglass State Bank and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, and was founding chairman of the Black Economic Union. Described as a soft-spoken leader, his even-handed style helped to bridge the racial divide during the city’s troubled 1960s. He died in 2005 at the age of 92.

To commemorate Blankinhip’s legacy as an entrepreneur and community leader in the Historic Vine District, Vine Street from 19th to 21st Street was named “Honorary “G.L. Blankinship, Sr. Avenue” in 2003.

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