Mickey Funeral Home (50 Cannon Street)

Description

Photograph (scan) of an advertisement for The Mickey Funeral Home at 50 Cannon Street, including a B&W photograph of the building, street (front) elevation. Original source: "Simms' Blue Book and National Negro Business and Professional Directory" by James N. Simms, compiler and publisher, 1923.

The Mickey Funeral Home was established in Charleston in 1894 by Edward Mickey. At his death, Edwin G. Harleston, brother of Edward Mickey's wife, Hannah Harleston Mickey, took over the firm until the two Mickey sons, Richard Harleston Mickey and Edward Crum Mickey became of age. In 1901, Edward Crum Mickey learned the trade and worked with Edwin G. Harleston at the funeral home. The company split in 1913; the Mickey Funeral Home re-established itself as an individual entity, run by the two brothers and their mother Hannah, while Edwin G. Harleston founded the Harleston Funeral Home. In the early 1930s, E.C. Mickey decided to build an expensive funeral parlor at 50 Cannon Street. The business failed and the firm shut down in 1933. (Source: Historical Note, Inventory of the Mickey Funeral Home Papers, Avery Research Center.)