Alonzo Herndon, Founder of Atlanta Life Born

*Alonzo F. Herndon, Founder.* ca.1920. Atlanta History Photograph Collection. Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center

Alfonzo Herndon was born into slavery on June 26, 1858, on a farm in Walton County, GA. After sharecropping as a teenager, he moved to the Atlanta area and became the region's premier barber at a time when black-owned barbershops primarily served prominent, white clients. Barbering was one of the few professions available to freed African American men that provided upward mobility. Herndon owned and operated three barbershops and invested in real estate in the business district as well as houses in Atlanta. He became one of the first African American millionaires. Segregation and Jim Crow laws resulted in a robust Black business movement, and the growth of a black middle class.

Herndon married Adrienne Elizabeth McNeil, a graduate of Atlanta University (now Morris Brown College) as well as a drama and elocution professor. Their only child, a son, Norris was born in 1897. One of Herndon's shops was damaged during the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906, and this had a profound impact on the family. Adrienne planned an elaborate new home for the family near Atlanta University overlooking the city, but she died shortly after they moved in. The mansion is now the Herndon House Museum, a National Historic Landmark.

In 1905, Herndon purchased the Atlanta Benevolent and Protective Association and renamed it the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. Benevolent societies first developed on plantations in order to care for the sick and bury the dead with dignity. This occurred at a time when there was a philosophy of self-help and philanthropy in the black community exemplified by educator Booker T. Washington. The company was expanded under Herndon's leadership to other southern states as he purchased similar ailing companies, becoming the largest insurance company owned and operated by African Americans in the United States. Herndon and Atlanta Life assisted in growing a large African American middle class in Atlanta and beyond. Herndon was a pillar of the community and a philanthropist.

In 1920, the Atlanta Life Insurance Company building was developed at 148 Auburn Avenue in Atlanta. After Herndon's death in 1927, his son, Norris B. Herndon, a Harvard MBA graduate, headed the company, and funded civil rights efforts, including the NAACP, the United Negro College Fund, Atlanta University, and the National Urban League. The company is still in existence today doing business as Atlanta Life Financial Group. In 1952, the Alonzo F. and Norris B. Herndon Foundation was established and seeks to prepare the next generation of entrepreneurs, increase diversity in the corporate boardroom, and create a more equitable seat at the table for everyone.

Print Resources

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.

Atlanta Life Insurance Company: Guardian of Black Economic Dignity by Henderson, Alexa Benson, 1944-
Call Number: HG8540.A8 H46 1990
Published/Created: 1990
In Atlanta, shortly after the turn of the century, Alonzo Franklin Herndon, a former slave, joined a long line of promoters of black enterprise by creating Atlanta Life Insurance Company
The Herndons: an Atlanta family by Carole Merritt
Call Number: F294.A853 H476 2002
ISBN: 0820323098
Published/Created: 2002-06-30
"Born a slave and reared a sharecropper, Alonzo Herndon (1858-1927) was destined to drudgery in the red clay fields of Georgia. Within forty years of Emancipation, however, he had amassed a fortune that far surpassed that of his White slave-master father. Through his barbering, real estate, and life insurance ventures, Herndon would become one of the wealthiest and most respected African American business figures of his era. This richly illustrated book chronicles Alonzo Herndon's ascent and his remarkable family's achievements in Jim Crow Atlanta. In this first biography of the Herndons, Carole Merritt narrates how Herndon nurtured the Atlanta Life Insurance Company from a faltering enterprise he bought for 140 dollars into one of the largest Black financial institutions in America; how he acquired the most substantial Black property holdings in Atlanta; and how he developed his barbering business from a one-chair shop into the nation's largest and most elegant parlor, the resplendent, twenty-three chair "Crystal Palace" in the heart of White Atlanta. The Herndons' world was the educational and business elite of Atlanta. But as Blacks, they were intimately bound to the course of Black life. The Atlanta Race Riot of 1906 and its impact on the Herndons demonstrated that all Blacks, regardless of class, were the victims of racial terrorism. Through the Herndons, issues of race, class, and color in turn-of-the-century Atlanta come into sharp focus. Their story is one of by-the-bootstraps resolve, tough compromises in the face of racism, and lasting contributions to their city and nation." - Publisher
Trouble in Mind : Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow by Litwack, Leon F.
Call Number: E185.6 .L58 1998 OVERFLOWJ34
Published/Created: 1998
"By maintaining rigid patterns of racial segregation, manipulating the judicial system, and enforcing ignorance among blacks, the white South sustained unprecedented levels of violence, brutality, and intimidation. Yet despite being faced with these overwhelming odds, many blacks found ways to resist and circumvent the system. Litwack shows how blacks not only coped with crushing poverty and misery, but also found refuge in their own institutions and managed to preserve their humanity and dignity through religion, work, music, and (frequently subversive) humor."--Publisher's description.
Includes information about Alonzo Herndon and the Atlanta Family Insurance Company (Atlanta Life).

Library of Congress Digital Resources

The following resources created and digitized by the Library of Congress can be used to find out more about the man as well as the events of the day.

Chronicling America, Historic American Newspapers
Historic American newspapers selected and contributed by state partners in the National Digital Newspaper Program. Search "Alonzo Herndon" or "Norris Herndon" or "Atlanta Life" or "Atlanta Family Life."
Fire Insurance Maps at the Library of Congress: A Resource Guide by Geography and Map Division
The Geography and Map Division holds extensive fire insurance map collections useful in genealogy research, environmental studies, urban planning, and more. This guide assists researchers in both discovering and navigating these primary source materials. Use these fire maps to trace companies in the Atlanta area over time.
Herndon & Atlanta Life Building, 229-243 Auburn Avenue, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA
Call Number: HABS GA,61-ATLA,1A-
It was for years a major black office complex in Atlanta. It was named for its owner, Alonzo F. Herndon, who was born a slave, founded the Atlanta Life Insurance Company and ultimately amassed a personal fortune from real estate and business investments. The structure originally housed retail shops, medical and dental offices, the headquarters for the Atlanta Urban League, the Atlanta School of Social Work, and a 34-room hotel...Survey number: HABS GA-1170-A, Building/structure dates: 1923-1924, Initial Construction. National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 76000631.
Occupational Folklife Project (OFP) , American Folklife Center (AFC), Library of Congress
The Occupational Folklife Project (OFP) began in 2010 as a multi-year project by the American Folklife Center (AFC) to document the culture of contemporary American workers during an era of economic and social transition. To date, fieldworkers across the United States have recorded more than 1300 audio and audiovisual oral history interviews with workers in scores of trades, industries, crafts, and professions. The OFC Project captures barbers in its interviews and oral histories.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Online Checklist by Geography and Map Division
The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Online Checklist provides a searchable database of the fire insurance maps published by the Sanborn Map Company housed in the collections of the Geography and Map Division. The online checklist is based upon the Library's 1981 publication Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress and will be continually updated to reflect new acquisitions. Trace the changes to the city of Atlanta, GA and the surrounding areas through these collections.

Library of Congress Research Guides and Blogs

Included here are research guides and blogs from the Library of Congress on the subject of African American business and entrepreneurship as well as genealogy that can be helpful in researching businesses and individuals. See the Index of Library of Congress Research Guides for other relevant guides.

African American Family Histories and Genealogies: A Resource Guide by Local History and Genealogy
Published/Created: 2020
The Library of Congress collections include a wide variety of family histories, genealogies, and electronic resources useful when researching the African American experience. This guide provides alphabetical and subject indexes to these materials.
African Americans in Business and Entrepreneurship: A Resource Guide by Science, Technology and Business Division
Published/Created: 2020
The history of African Americans in business has been shaped by institutional racism as well as inequities in education and opportunity. This guide provides access to a wide variety of primary and secondary sources to aid in the research of this topic.
Business and Labor History: Primary Sources at the Library of Congress by Manuscripts Division and Science, Technology and Business Division
Published/Created: 2018
This guide highlights those special collections at the Library that would be of interest to researchers studying business and labor history with an emphasis on personal and organizations papers and related resources.
Business History: A Resource Guide by Science, Technology and Business Division
Published/Created: 2019
The resources included here will help those researching the history of American business, including industries, companies, and business leaders.
Doing Historical Company Research: A Resource Guide by Science, Technology and Business Division
Published/Created: 2018
This research guide provides links to selected print and electronic resources, as well as tips and tricks for those trying to find information on older or out of business companies.

Honoring African Americans: Barbering (Inside Adams Blog)
Science, Technology and Business Division
African-American men’s barbering has its roots in slavery when enslavers earned income by leasing enslaved barbers to neighboring plantations and nearby barbering establishments to groom slaves and affluent white men. Enslaved individuals often worked alongside freedmen, and some individuals were able to earn their freedom through barbering.
Honoring African Americans: Cornerstones of Economic Development – African American Insurance Companies (Inside Adams Blog)
Science, Technology and Business Division
Early in the history of enslaved people in the United States, benevolent societies developed on plantations in order to care for the sick and bury the dead with dignity. In 1787, the Free African Society was formed in Philadelphia by freed Blacks to provide mutual aid and self-help and was the forerunner of the first insurance company organized by African Americans.

Internet Resources

These are online resources that offer information on Alonzo Herndon and his business.

The Alonzo F. and Norris B. Herndon Foundation
Founded in 1952, The Herndon Foundation is a private foundation based in Atlanta, Ga. Its mission is to advance the Herndon’s legacy through education, mentoring, and preparing the next generation of entrepreneurs. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Herndon Foundation strives to increase diversity in the corporate board room and create a more equitable seat at the table for everyone.
Atlanta Life Insurance Company (Company Home Page)
The current home page of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company notes that "Our founder was born into slavery and grew not only to become an original member of the NAACP, but Georgia’s first black millionaire. We take pride in our history and honor it by instilling the same principles the company was founded on."
Black History Now: Alonzo Herndon
Alonzo Herndon parlayed success as a barber and as the owner of upscale barbershops into a business empire. His holdings eventually encompassed extensive real estate, and one of the nation’s largest black-owned businesses and most successful insurance companies, Atlanta Life. Details his connections with W.E.B. Du Bois and the Niagara Movement.
Herndon Home, Flickr (National Register of Historic Places)
The Herndon Home is significant under because of its association with Alonzo Franklin Herndon, who was born into slavery but whose life personifies the realization of the American dream and reads like a page out of a Horatio Alger success story.
Herndon Home, National Historic Landmark Designation Nomination (National Park Service)
This application for historical designation provides in depth biographical information about Alonzo Herndon, his experiences in the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906, his marriage to Adrienne Elizabeth McNeil, a professor at Atlanta University (later Clark Atlanta University), and the building of their home, with architectural details.
Sweet Auburn Historic District, Atlanta, Georgia (National Trust for Historic Preservation)
The historic district dominated by Auburn Avenue, once known as “the richest Negro street in the world,” spiraled into decline in the 1980s. In 1992, the National Trust added Sweet Auburn to its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Although the residential portion of the Sweet Auburn Historic District has enjoyed a distinct turnaround – thanks largely to the efforts of the Historic District Development Corporation – the commercial area concentrated on Auburn Avenue has not fared as well. Without a preservation-focused revitalization plan, deterioration and inappropriate development may gravely impact its historic character.

Search the Library's Catalog

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