Overton Hygienic Building

Address: 3619-27 S. State St. Year Built: 1922 - 1923 Architect: Z. Erol Smith Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 9, 1998

Built by noted entrepreneur Anthony Overton as the headquarters for the Overton Hygienic Company, which was one of the nation's foremost producers of African-American cosmetics. This four-story structure also housed several of Overton's other business ventures, including the Victory Life Insurance Company and Douglass National Bank, the first nationally chartered, African-American-owned bank. Offices on the second floor were rented to area physicians, lawyers, music producers, and architects. It is one of nine structures in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville Historic District.