Calvin E. Lightner

Calvin Esau Lightner (March 31, 1878 – May 21, 1960) was an American architect, building contractor, and mortician. He was born in South Carolina and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, to study architectural design at Shaw University. After graduation he took industrial courses at Hampton Institute and studied embalming in Tennessee. He and his brother established the C. E. Lightner and Brothers construction company and built numerous homes for members of Raleigh's black middle class.

Lightner established the first funeral home for black customers in Raleigh along East Hargett Street. He proceeded to construct numerous commercial buildings along the road, thus sparking a shift in the concentration of Raleigh's black-owned businesses to East Hargett, which became known as the city's "Black Main Street." In 1919 he and two other black men launched a political campaign for municipal offices with the goal of arousing political interest in the black community. Lightner sought the post of Commissioner of Public Works. Jim Crow restrictions prevented most black men from voting and all three lost their elections, though Lightner earned 142 votes. In 1921 he built the Mechanics and Farmers Bank Building in Durham and the Lightner Arcade and Hotel in Raleigh. The latter quickly became a center of social activity for Raleigh's black community and hosted musicians Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. Lightner sold his hotel in 1925 and in 1959 turned over his funeral business to his son, Clarence. Lightner died the following year. Clarence was elected as the first black Mayor of Raleigh in 1973. Most of Lightner's building projects no longer exist.

Early life and education Calvin Lightner was born on March 31, 1878, in Winnsboro, South Carolina, United States, to Frank and Daphney Lightner. His father had been born into slavery and following emancipation farmed and worked as a carpenter, building homes in Chester. His mother had been born as a free person of color. His maternal grandfather, Joseph Thompson, served in the South Carolina General Assembly during Reconstruction. According to census records, Frank was illiterate whereas Daphney could read. Daphney and her children were classified as mulatto in the 1880 United States census. He moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1898 and enrolled at Shaw University, In 1911 he received a state charter to set up a funeral business and founded the Lightner Funeral Home on October 1, operating it out of the first floor of the Lightner Building. During the Colored North Carolina State Fair, a group of undertakers met and formed such an association, electing Lightner its president. In the 1920s he established the private Hillcrest Cemetery for Raleigh's black residents on family property along Garner Road. The campaign garnered the support of many blacks and provoked the ire of some white leaders, who as a result discouraged other white people from supporting black enterprises in Raleigh. In 1922 he was made a member of a new poverty relief committee, the Negro New Bern Relief Commission.

In 1921 Lightner built the Lightner Arcade and Hotel across the street from the Lightner Building, later joking that he decided to erect it after his wife had complained that he hosted too many friends from out of town at their home. The building also housed a restaurant, drug store, barbershop, and the offices of The Carolinian. Lightner also heavily remodeled Davie Street Presbyterian Church in 1922, where he became a parishioner, Lightner and his brother sold the hotel in May 1925 to the Household of Ruth for $108,000. In the 1930s he created the Wake County Burial League to sell burial insurance. In 1941 Lightner purchased the Capehart House and moved his funeral home there. He retired the following year. The Lightner Arcade burned down in 1970. Lightner's son, Clarence, was elected as the first black Mayor of Raleigh in 1973.