Michigan's Saginaw Valley was in the midst
of a lumber boom. Blacks found opportunity as barbers, craftsmen and
professionals.
Among the Goodridges' apprentices was
John H. Freeney, who opened a studio in Mt. Pleasant and later became a
timber entrepreneur. At various times, Arthur William Brown (standing,
right) had photographic studios in Clare, Gaylord and Marshall.
By 1868, East Saginaw was booming
with brick buildings and a horse-drawn railcar. Wallace and William
Goodridge soon joined lumberman William Quincy Atwood and businessman
Charles W. Ellis as leaders of the town's small African American
community.
In February 1866 the Goodridges
helped found the Colored Debating Society. Wallace was "President
of the evening" for the 1869 celebration of the fifth anniversary
of emancipation, and William led the orchestra that played "till an
early hour of the morning."
