Sam Taylor

CTL-E-1670 · Person · businessperson · 1920s

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

Founder of Taylor Electric Company (1922), Chicago's first Black-owned construction company. Came to Chicago from the coal mines of Alabama during the Great Migration with a sixth-grade education; worked stoking coal for a railroad, running a saloon, and sweeping floors at Cuneo Press before learning the electrical trade helping Black electrician Robert Patterson at the Pullman Company. Licensed as an electrician in 1922; fought for Black electricians' union rights in segregated 1930s Chicago. Stepfather and mentor to Charles Stewart III, the first African American admitted to Greer College.

The record

• Also known as: Samuel Taylor

Notes

RELP35 NEW entity 2026-10-06: identity split from CTL-E-1094 (which conflated founder and firm). Taylor Electric Company founded_by this person.

Relationships

• Black IBEW electricians in Chicago — founded
  Sam Taylor led the Black electricians who secured IBEW Charter 9362 and, in 1943, became members of IBEW Local 134.
• IBEW Local 134 — affiliated with
  Sam Taylor became a member of IBEW Local 134 in 1943.
• Oscar De Priest — related to
  Congressman Oscar De Priest helped Taylor’s group of Black electricians secure IBEW Charter 9362, allowing them to form what was essentially a Black union.
• Taylor Electric Company — founded
  Sam Taylor founded the Taylor Electric Company in Chicago in 1922.

Referenced by

• Black IBEW electricians in Chicago — founded by → this record
• Taylor Electric Company — founded by → this record

Sources

• BlackPast.org — Taylor Electric Company (1922– )
• IBEW (official LinkedIn post) — Sam Taylor Breaks Barriers in Electrical Industry (primary source)
• CultureTechLens batch RELP35 research (10-claim enrichment)

Record CTL-E-1670 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 3 sources (1 primary) · 6 mapped relationships · CTL research: BCI-001, ECON-001, RELP-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

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