Lillian Lambert
Small business executive Lillian Lincoln Lambert was born on May 12, 1940 in Ballsville, Virginia to Willie D. Hobson, a farmer and Arnetha B. Hobson, a school teacher and homemaker. Lambert graduated from Pocahontas High School in Powhatan, Virginia in 1958. Her mother, a college graduate, urged Lambert to pursue an advanced degree, but she wanted to move to New York City instead. She worked as a maid on Fifth Avenue, a typist at Macy’s Department Store and a travelling saleswoman. Lambert then moved to Washington, D.C. in 1961, where she worked for the federal government as a typist in the Veteran Affairs Division and later with the Peace Corps while going to school at the District of Columbia Teacher’s College (now the University of the District of Columbia). In 1962, Lambert enrolled as a full-time student at Howard University at the age of twenty-two. Under the mentorship of Professor H. Naylor Fitzhugh, she majored in Business Administration and applied to Harvard Business School. Lambert graduated from Howard University in 1966 with her B.A. degree in business administration and started Harvard Business School in 1967. At Harvard Business School, she worked with four other black students to increase the number of African American enrollments and in 1968, they founded the African American Student Union. Lambert graduated in 1969 and was the first African American woman to receive her M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School.
Lambert was then hired at the Sterling Institute in Washington, D.C. and later as a manager at the National Bankers Association. In 1972, Lambert joined Ferris & Company as a stockbroker. In 1973, she began teaching at Bowie State College and became the executive vice president of Unified Services, a janitorial services company. Then in 1976, Lambert left Unified Services to start her own janitorial company, Centennial One, Inc. Starting in her garage, she grew Centennial into a business with more than 1,200 employees and $20 million in sales. In 2001, Lambert sold her company and in 2002, she became president of LilCo Enterprises. She now serves as a coach, consultant and public speaker.
Lambert is the recipient of numerous awards including the Small Business Person of the Year for the State of Maryland in 1981 and the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award in 2003, the school’s highest honor for its alumni. She has served on the board of visitors for Virginia Commonwealth University, the board of regents for the University System of Maryland, the board of directors for the African American Alumni Association of Harvard Business School and committee vice chair for the Manasota Chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Lambert is married to John Anthony Lambert, Sr. and has two adult daughters, Darnetha and Tasha.
Lillian Lincoln Lambert was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 9, 2012.
A2012.018
Female
2/9/2012
Lambert
Married
Lincoln
Pocahontas Middle
Harvard Business School
Howard University
Yes
Any
Lillian
Powhatan
LAM03
Any
Yes - $1,000 - $5,000
Spring
Preferred Audience: Youth, womens groups, business groups, education institutions.
Virginia
None
Defeat Is Not An Option.
Virginia
5/12/1940
Richmond
United States
Ice Cream
Business chief executive Lillian Lambert (1940 - ) was the first African American woman to graduate with her M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School and went on to found her own company, Centennial One, Inc.
LilCo Enterprises
Centennial One, Inc.
Unified Services
Bowie State University
Blue, Red
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Lillian Lambert's interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Lillian Lambert lists her favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Lillian Lambert describes her mother's family history
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Lillian Lambert talks about her mother
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Lillian Lambert talks about her father's family history
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Lillian Lambert talks about her father
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Lillian Lambert describes how her parents met
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Lillian Lambert talks about her family's property in Ballsville, Virginia
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Lillian Lambert considers her likeness to her parents
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Lillian Lambert lists her siblings
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Lillian Lambert remembers nearly being crushed by a falling tree
Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Lillian Lambert talks about the schools she attended in Ballsville, Virginia
Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Lillian Lambert remembers her neighbors in Ballsville, Virginia
Tape: 1 Story: 14 - Lillian Lambert describes the sights, sounds, and smells of growing up in Ballsville, Virginia
Tape: 1 Story: 15 - Lillian Lambert describes her childhood home in Ballsville, Virginia
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Lillian Lambert describes family conflicts over the value of education
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Lillian Lambert talks about her family's attitudes towards money
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Lillian Lambert talks about her schooling and extracurricular activities
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Lillian Lambert talks about her childhood church, Mt.Pero Baptist Church
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Lillian Lambert describes race relations in Ballsville, Virginia during her childhood
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Lillian Lambert recalls watching boxing with her father and listening to stories told outside the local store
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Lillian Lambert describes working as a nanny in Riverhead, New York, as a teenager
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Lillian Lambert talks about attending Pocahontas High School in Powhatan County, Virgina
Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Lillian Lambert describes her high school aspirations
Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Lillian Lambert describes her time living in New York City
Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Lillian Lambert explains her move to Washington, D.C.
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Lillian Lambert describes working at the Veteran's Administration in Washington, D.C.
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Lillian Lambert talks about her decision to enroll at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Lillian Lambert describes how she financed her education at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Lillian Lambert talks about her mentor, H. Naylor Fitzhugh
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Lillian Lambert talks about her time at Howard University in Washington, D.C. as a commuter student
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Lillian Lambert talks about her college extracurricular activities and reflects on being a nontraditional student
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Lillian Lambert recalls professors from Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Lillian Lambert recalls her various jobs during the summers in college
Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Lillian Lambert describes her admission to Harvard Business School
Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Lillian Lambert talks about the lack of African Americans at Harvard Business School from the 1930s to 1960s
Tape: 3 Story: 11 - Lillian Lambert describes her efforts to have Harvard Business School enroll more black students
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Lillian Lambert describes her efforts to recruit black students at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Lillian Lambert reflects on Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination and its possible effect on diversity at Harvard Business School
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Lillian Lambert recalls her professors from Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Lillian Lambert recalls her time at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Lillian Lambert talks about a business school project for American Express
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Lillian Lambert talks about working at the Sterling Institute after earning her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Lillian Lambert reflects on being the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Lillian Lambert talks about working at the Sterling Institute and the National Bankers Association
Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Lillian Lambert describes working as a stockbroker and as a consultant for a janitorial company
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Lillian Lambert talks about teaching and consulting while pregnant and her work for Unified Services full time
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Lillian Lambert talks about being fired from Unified Services and starting her own business, Centennial One, Inc.
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Lillian Lambert talks about her committee work and her contracts awarded in the 1970s, including a government contract through the SBA's 8(A) Program
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Lillian Lambert describes her commercial cleaning business, Centennial One, Inc.
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Lillian Lambert talks about her largest contracts and financial losses
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Lillian Lambert recalls winning the Small Business Person of the Year Award in 1981
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Lillian Lambert considers President Nixon's role in the creation of the Small Business Administration
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Lillian Lambert talks about her mother's death
Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Lillian Lambert talks about her first husband's involvement in her business
Tape: 5 Story: 10 - Lillian Lambert talks about her second marriage
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Lillian Lambert talks about her involvement with the Harvard Business School African American Alumni Association in Boston, Massachusetts
Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Lillian Lambert talks about the success of her business, Centennial One, Inc.
Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Lillian Lambert talks about selling Centennial One, Inc. in 2001
Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Lillian Lambert talks about starting LilCo Enterprises and working as a realtor
Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Lillian Lambert talks about writing her book, 'A Road to Someplace Better'
Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Lillian Lambert reflects on how her life has changed since her childhood in Ballsville, Virginia
Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Lillian Lambert reflects her interactions with the people in Ballsville, Virginia
Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Lillian Lambert describes her volunteer activities
Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Lillian Lambert talks about her student talks
Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Lillian Lambert describes her mentoring relationships
Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Lillian Lambert describes her hopes and concerns for African American communities
Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Lillian Lambert talks about the racism shown HistoryMaker Barack Obama
Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Lillian Lambert talks about discrimination in her business dealings
Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Lillian Lambert considers what she might have done differently
Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Lillian Lambert considers her legacy
Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Lillian Lambert talks about serving on the board of regents at the University System of Maryland and Virginia Commonwealth University
Tape: 7 Story: 8 - Lillian Lambert talks about her marriage to John Lambert
Tape: 7 Story: 9 - Lillian Lambert describes how she would like to be remembered
Tape: 7 Story: 10 - Lillian Lambert narrates her photographs