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Reflecting on Black history in the CPA profession

February 10, 2022

John W. Cromwell Jr. CPA

Last year, in collaboration with the AICPA, National Society of Black Certified Public Accountants, Diverse Organization of Firms and the National Association of Black Accountants, the Illinois CPA Society celebrated the centennial of the first Black CPA.

In 1921, 25 years after the first CPA certificate was granted in the U.S., John W. Cromwell, Jr. became the first Black CPA. He opened a door through which thousands of other Black accountants would eventually pass.

Last year marked the 100th anniversary of Cromwell’s landmark achievement, and various organizations came together to announce the 2021 Black CPA Centennial, a year-long national awareness campaign that recognized Black CPAs in the U.S. and pushed for greater progress to be made in achieving diversity, inclusion and equity in the CPA profession. Following Cromwell, it took a staggering 45 years for the first 100 Black accountants to be licensed as CPAs. While there has been progress, it has been slow. In 2019, an AICPA survey found, that among all CPA firms that responded to the survey, only two percent of CPAs were Black.

Explore the following podcasts, videos and articles created for the Black CPA Centennial that honor the stories of some of the first Black CPA trailblazers and discuss ways to continue building a diverse and equitable profession.

 Articles:

• Coming together to advance Black CPAs
• Early Black-owned CPA firms spurred diversity efforts
• Diverse faculty attracts diverse students
• Commemorating 100 years of Black CPAs and looking forward
• Learning from Black CPA role models

Video Interviews:

• Lester H. McKeever Jr., CPA, JD, the 61st Black CPA
• David A. Kelly, CPA, JD, the 79th Black CPA
• Ruth Coles Harris, CPA, Ph.D., the 87th Black CPA
• Johnnie L. Clark, CPA, MBA, Ph.D, the 96th Black CPA
• Bert N. Mitchell, CPA, the 100th Black CPA

Podcasts:

• The struggles and triumphs of the first Black CPAs
• What we can do to increase the number of Black CPAs

 

The contents of this article and listed resources were originally published by the Illinois CPA Society.