Conclusion

The conclusion seeks to understand the last decade of John Hervey Wheeler’s life through a discussion about his lasting legacy as a banker and civil rights lawyer. It explains that Wheeler received a number of accolades ranging from honorary doctorates to a building named in his honor on the campus of his alma mater, Morehouse College, in 1976. Wheeler’s children, Julia Wheeler Taylor and Warren Hervey Wheeler, became the ultimate beneficiaries of their father’s “black business activism,” and they went on to have pioneering careers in banking and aviation. The conclusion identifies some of the black leaders that Wheeler mentored who went on to have successful careers in politics, business, and law in the decades that followed, taking up the mantle of leadership from Wheeler. Moreover, North Carolina congressman G. K. Butterfield from the state’s First District, which includes Durham, pushed through Congress H.R. 3460 to name the federal courthouse in Durham the John Hervey Wheeler United States Courthouse.