James Hamlin

A member of the Republican Party and proponent of organized labor, he served on the Raleigh Board of Alderman for several years.

[3] Hamlin initially worked in tailoring and pressing before securing a job at a United States Post Office.

He briefly moved to New York City to work in a dining car before deciding to return to Raleigh to open a saloon.

[5] In 1898 Hamlin was mustered into Company B of the North Carolina 32nd Volunteers at Fort Macon to serve in the Spanish-American War.

[10] That year Hamlin and Walter T. Harris opened People's Drug Store on East Hargett Street in Raleigh.

[6] The pharmacy filled prescriptions issued by black physicians and maintained a soda fountain which was popular with local students.

[2] In 1914 Hamlin was fined $1,000 by the Wake County Superior Court for illicitly selling whisky out of his drug store.

[15] In the 1890s he joined with a group of black parents to lobby the public school superintendent to allow for their involvement in their children's education.

[17] Together with Charles Williams, Hamlin was one of two black men to vacate his position on the board in May 1901, amid the entrenchment of Jim Crow racial segregation in Raleigh.

Senator Lee Slater Overman, in February 1924, Hamlin was allowed to collect a pension of $30 per month for his military service.