Historic R. L. Polk City Directories
March 28, 2011 12:40 PM   Subscribe

What does a starred or asterisked listing in old (1915-1925) R. L. Polk City Directories indicate?

I am in the midst of some research on a large southern US city, and have been using Polk's City Directories (also called city guides) as a resource. I noticed that many of the listings are preceded by a star or asterisk (*). I suspect that these are African-American individuals or businesses, but can't find confirmation anywhere within the directory itself. Can anyone confirm this or point me to a useful source?
Thanks!
posted by krista_p to Society & Culture (4 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 


More support for that idea.
posted by empath at 12:51 PM on March 28, 2011




IIRC, the star denotes a new resident at a given address, but that's post-1970 experience talking.
posted by wierdo at 11:43 PM on March 28, 2011


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