| (1858
- 1927) |
| Inducted: |
1996 |
| Region: |
Southeast |
| Industry: |
Finance
Insurance |
|
Alonzo Herndon, a former slave, turned $11 of savings into a fortune. When Georgia passed a law in 1905 requiring insurance companies to deposit $5,000 with the state treasurer, Herndon shrewdly purchased nine small burial associations and organized them into the Atlanta Mutual Insurance Association. Atlanta Mutual eventually became Atlanta Life Insurance Company and grew to be the second largest African-American life insurance company in the nation. Herndon used his good fortune to benefit others. He was a co-founder of the Niagara Movement, the forerunner of today’s NAACP. |
