Most people know the names Marriott, Hilton, Wilson — but countless African American hoteliers helped build the foundation of American hospitality, and their stories rarely get told.

I sat down with Calvin Stovall, author of Hidden Hospitality, to explore the remarkable journey behind his new book and the extraordinary hoteliers he uncovered along the way. Calvin spent decades researching these stories — from the late 1700s through the civil rights era — and the result is a stunning coffee table book filled with resilience, innovation, and legacy.

On #NoVacancyNews, Calvin talks about the emotional moment he held the finished book for the first time, how the idea originated back in grad school, and why these stories matter for the next generation of leaders in our industry.

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Key Insights:

📘 How a graduate school research assignment became a lifelong mission 📰 The challenge of uncovering stories buried in microfiche archives 🏨 The African American hotel pioneers who built thriving businesses long before civil rights 💡 The incredible story of Joseph Lee — hotelier, inventor, and culinary innovator 📚 How Calvin raised the funding to publish a 90,000-word coffee table book 🔥 Why these stories can inspire a new generation of hotel ownership 🏛️ How segregation, community investment, and resilience shaped these early hotels