An African American barber and entrepreneur, Alonzo Herndon was founder and president of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of the most successful Black-owned insurance businesses in the nation.
What two businesses would Alonzo Herndon establish?
What two businesses would Alonzo Herndon establish? Crystal Palace and the Atlanta Life Insurance Company.
What did Alonzo Herndon initially do for work?
From a very young age, Herndon worked as a laborer, and a peddler, to help support his family, as only his mother could work in the early years. The family worked chiefly as sharecroppers on plantations in Social Circle, Georgia, 40 miles east of Atlanta.
What did Alonzo Herndon invent?
Atlanta Life Insurance Company
American executive Alonzo Franklin Herndon (1858–1927) founded the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of the leading insurers in the American South. Born into slavery, he belonged to the first generation of successful African American entrepreneurs of the early twentieth century.
Who was Atlanta’s first black millionaire?
Later, Herndon founded the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, located in the Sweet Auburn Historic District, and became Atlanta’s first black millionaire. The home was primarily designed by Adrienne Herndon, Alonzo’s first wife and a teacher at Atlanta University.
Was Alonzo Herndon the first black millionaire?
Alonzo Herndon was born a slave on June 26, 1858, in Walton County. As Atlanta Life expanded into Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, Herndon became Atlanta’s first Black millionaire.
How much money did Alonzo Herndon make?
At the time of his death Herndon’s real estate holdings were valued at nearly $325,000. In 1905, Herndon purchased a failing insurance company, which he incorporated as Atlanta Mutual Insurance Association. He took over a company which had $5,000 in assets in 1905. By 1922 the company had more than $400,000 in assets.
Who was the wealthiest black property owner in Atlanta?
Alonzo F. Herndon, who was the largest black property owner in Atlanta in the 1900’s, is buried here. Alonzo Franklin Herndon was born into slavery in Walton County, Georgia, Herndon was the son of his white slave holder, Frank Herndon, and an enslaved woman named Sophenie.
Was Alonzo Herndon A Millionaire?
Herndon was born on June 26, 1858 in Walton County, Georgia to Frank Herndon, a white farmer, and Sophenie, his slave. By the time of his death in 1927, Herndon was Atlanta, Georgia’s wealthiest African American and one of the first black millionaires in the United States.
