The Empire Real Estate Board, Inc. (EREB), was organized in 1939 by seven black Real Estate Brokers who were dissatisfied with "status quo" relating to housing conditions in Atlanta for Blacks. Additionally, they were unhappy with the conditions for Black real estate practitioners and were denied membership in the Realtors' trade organization. The pioneers were: W. H. Aiken, John G. Allen, O. T. Bell, Wendell Cunningham, Roger Henderson, J. R. Wilson, Jr. and N. D. Jones.