Jesse Blayton, Sr. was known affectionately as the "Dean of Negro Accountants" because of his tireless dedication the and training of African American Accountants. Blayton, Sr. was born in Fallis, Oklahoma in 1897 and went on to study at the University of Chicago. After becoming a practicing accountant 1922, he later sat for and passed the CPA exam in 1928 making him only the fourth Black accountant in the United States at the time. He worked as a professor at the University of Atlanta where he pushed African American students to join the profession, despite the lack of opportunity. Blayton eventually became the President of an Atlanta area bank and later became known for the purchase of Atlanta radio station WERD in 1949.
On a cold day in December 1969, nine African American men left their fo
