William A. Amey and Emanuel G. Spaulding converted a house on Roxboro Street (then Pine Street), pictured here, into the Carolina Funeral Home in 1933. When Spaulding moved to New York, Amey renamed the business William Amey Funeral Home. It was featured in “Negro Durham Marches On,” a film the Durham Business and Professional Chain made in 1949 to promote Hayti’s businesses. The film’s narrator lauds Amey and his funeral home for his service to the community:

The kind, sympathetic service of the Amey Funeral directors is a credit to this community. For years, they have been building a reputation of usefulness through their kindness to bereaved families throughout this area. Like other conscientious businesses, they are always equipped to extend the proper services required of them.

When urban renewal forced Amey out of the building, he and his son, a partner in the business since 1951, moved the family business to Fayetteville Street. William A. Amey operated from this new location until his death in 1981.

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