1940's , Pilgram Funeral Home. Henderson County, NC.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Baker Barber Collection- Henderson County , NC, Public Library.
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Another businessman who got his start during the 1930’s had an enduring influence on the Hendersonville community. The man was James Pilgrim. After graduating from Stephens-Lee High School in Asheville, N.C., in 1934,

Pilgrim began work with Mark’s Cleaners, eventually buying into the business with partners Eric Frady and Max Markowitz. One day Thomas Shepherd approached Pilgrim, offering him a position in his funeral home business. Pilgrim accepted.

From this start Shepherd aided Pilgrim in gaining his education and eventually, in 1941, helped him establish his own business by signing the bank notes, lending him equipment and aiding in the performance of his first funerals.

Pilgrim’s Funeral Home prospered under the careful and compassionate eye of its founder. Pilgrim became involved in the activities of the Black community, always offering to help in any way he could.

He was instrumental on the Community Council, which won a more equal footing in hiring practices for Blacks in Henderson County.

James Pilgrim was motivated by his faith in Christian principles and said, “I’ve always tried to do the Christian thing, to follow the Master.”

Because of his compassion and his position of financial independence, he continued to be a leader of stature in the Hendersonville Black community as well as the community as a whole until his death in 1988.

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Mr. Pilgram's short bio sourced from: Henderson County’s Black History Research Committee.
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