Allen L. McKellar papers, 1942-1975 and undated

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Summary

Creator:
McKellar, Allen L.
Abstract:
Allen L. McKellar was an African American sales and marketing executive based primarily in the St. Louis, Mo. area and one of the first business professionals to break the color barrier in major American corporations. The Allen L. McKellar papers include clippings, correspondence, financial and sales reports, photographs, sales training and other manuals, newsletters, research reports and other printed materials relating to McKellar's career marketing Pepsi and Falstaff beer products to African American and minority consumers. Celebrity individuals and civic institutions represented in the collection include Barbara McNair, Chicago Urban League, Hank Aaron, James Brown, National Business League and the United States Brewers' Association. Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, and the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History & Culture.
Extent:
3.0 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials in English.
Collection ID:
RL.11800

Background

Scope and content:

The Allen L. McKellar papers include clippings, correspondence, financial and sales reports, photographs, sales training and other manuals, newsletters, research reports and other printed materials relating to McKellar's career marketing Pepsi and Falstaff beer products to African American and minority consumers. Celebrity individuals and civic institutions represented in the collection include Barbara McNair, Chicago Urban League, Hank Aaron, James Brown, National Business League and the United States Brewers' Association.

Biographical / historical:

Allen L. McKellar was an African American sales and marketing executive based primarily in the St. Louis, Mo. area and one of the first business professionals to break the color barrier in major American corporations.

Allen McKellar was born in 1920 in Abbeville, South Carolina. He graduated from South Carolina Colored Agricultural and Mechanical College (now South Carolina State University) in 1940 and was hired by Pepsi-Cola as part of a program to promote Pepsi consumption in the black community. McKellar served in the U.S. Army during World War II and returned to Pepsi around 1947. In 1951 Pepsi reorganized to focus on international marketing and disbanded its domestic special markets program; McKellar subsequently went to work for Falstaff Brewing, where he worked until he retired in 1975. He died in St. Louis, Mo. in 2018.

Acquisition information:
The Allen L. McKellar papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2019.
Processing information:

Processed by Richard Collier, Jan. 2020;

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2020-0004

Arrangement:

Organized into the following series: General Files; Falstaff Brewing Files; Printed Material.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Allen L. McKellar papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.