Mr. Inman’s Barber Shop

Description

Some have said that the civil rights movement in San Antonio was born in Mr. Inman’s barber chair. Indeed, faded blue and red barber stripes on the front of the building’s shell at 827 Hackberry still recall an era when the plans and politics swirled around the heads of Eastside leaders and local boys alike. According to San Antonio Express-News columnist Cary Clack, who grew up on the Eastside, “Going to Inman’s meant many
things: going to get a haircut, going to get religion, going to talk politics, going to organize or going for fellowship.” And while the legendary shop stands empty, the legacy of John Inman thrives.

Born in 1896 to a farmer and his wife in a settlement of some 12 to 15 African-American families southeast of San Antonio, Inman cut hair while getting his degree at Guadalupe Seminary College in Seguin. He went on to use that degree to teach from behind the chair rather than inside the pulpit. During WWII Inman was kicked off of Kelly Air Force Base where he was living and had his first barbershop. Later, Inman opened his shop on Hackberry during the 1920’s and it was soon the spot where you could find
information on issues affecting the African-American community.

As A.C. Sutton once said, “Anything that looked like a movement, he would be a part of.” At the Hackberry St. Shop nearly all his income came from within the African-American community and
he was free from sanctions from the white community for his activism. The role of the black barber is not that different from that of the African “griot” or storyteller who held onto the stories of a village. He spread the news of the community and initiated young boys into the talk of politics, sports and women. Indeed, within the walls of Inman’s, black men and boys found a safe space to talk, to plan and to protest.

In 1928, Inman was elected president of the local NAACP. Over the years, he organized Eastside residents to sign up for the poll tax and to petition City Hall for more fire hydrants on the Eastside. When pecan workers organized for better wages and working conditions during the Depression, Inman encouraged them to use his shop as a meeting place. He also actively pushed African-Americans to patronize businesses that did not
racially discriminate. In interviews before his death at 100, John Inman recalled the rocky years of 60’s when he participated in restaurant sit-ins in San Antonio. He once
said, “The harder they fought me the harder I fought back. I was never afraid of risking my life for the cause of justice and freedom.”

- from http://www.americansforthearts.org/