Collins Funeral Home

Historical Note

The Collins Funeral Home, a successful African American family-owned business was established in 1924 as the Frazier and Collins Funeral Home and served the citizens of Jackson, Mississippi until its closure in the late 1980s. The history of the Collins Funeral Home highlights one of the few examples of women-owned African American small businesses in the south during the mid-twentieth century.

In 1916, E.W. Hall and Malachi Collins established the Hall and Collins Funeral Home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In October of 1924, Malachi Collins purchased the G. F. Frazier Funeral Home in Jackson, Mississippi and within a few months after the funeral home’s move to 415 Farish Street in 1939, Malachi Collins died, leaving his wife Mary and daughter Clarie in charge of the business. The establishment operated as the Frazier and Collins Funeral Home until 1950, when the business became known as the Collins Funeral Home. Mary Collins served as the President and CEO of the company until her death in 1970.

The business flourished with the mother-daughter team at the helm. Clarie Collins Harvey succeeded her mother as president in 1970 and excelled in the role using her entrepreneurial and leadership skills to take the business to new heights. The Collins Funeral Home published quarterly newsletters, established a burial insurance business—common amongst African American funeral homes in the south, and became the heart of the Farish Street black business district in Jackson. The funeral home and its associated spheres of influence allowed Clarie Collins Harvey to address the concerns of the black community and garner support for civil rights participation in the Jackson area.

Citation:

Abstract:

The records of the Collins Funeral Home.

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