5 facts about alonzo herndon

All Rights Reserved. 2. letter-spacing:0.4px; Herndon bought the business for $140 in 1905, and when he deposited the sum according to the new state regulatory rules, his company became the first in the state to meet the new requirement. Encyclopedia.com. Alonzo Franklin Herndon was born on June 6, 1858, in Social Circle, Georgia, which is located in Walton County. In 1933, Jessie and Norris Herndon turned the ownership of the Crystal Palace over to its employees. Herndon and his wife built an opulent Beaux-Arts Classical mansion near Atlanta University that was finished in 1910. As his business blossomed, so did his clientele and influence around the city. One of the results of the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906 was that Black leaders realized that W. E. B. 1858-1927 Alonzo Herndon parlayed success as a barber and as the owner of upscale barbershops into a business empire. Fittingly, Herndon had asked that his pallbearers be drawn from among his barber staff. The couple had a son, Norris, who grew Atlanta Life to even greater heights after Herndons death. } 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. As proprietor, Herndon personally saw to the barbering services provided to some of the most important figures in the state, earning their acquaintance and good will. He passed away on 21 July 1927. New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Jul 14, 2020. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/alonzo-herndon-1858-1927/, Henderson, A. He was considered. } 2. Norris eventually settled down and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard in 1921, where he was one of two blacks in his class. Pub, Turner, Henry McNeal 18341915 Merrick, a contemporary of Herndons, also had begun his career as a barber. After a few months Herndon migrated to the town of Jonesboro, in Clayton County. } .page blockquote{ He opened his own barbershop in Atlanta in 1886. #menu .has-mega-sub-blog-menu .mega-sub-menu ul li a:hover{ .slider-wrapper .flex-slider .fs-caption-overlay{ Carole Merritt, director of Herndon Home, takes students on a tour of the house where Alonzo Herndon lived with his wife Adrienne and their son Norris. Alonzo was born on June 26, 1858 in Georgia. Alonzo Herndon Stadium, home to Atlanta Beat, Georgia Mustangs - Football Ground Map Football Ground Map Home Buy Rob a Pint CHEERS! } Alonzo Herndon began construction on the house in 1905 and it was substantially complete when Adrienne Herndon died after a brief illness in 1910. There he opened his first barbershop. }@media screen and (max-width: 768px){body,p{ Living in a small shack with his mother, younger brother, maternal grandparents, and members of several other families caught in the same dilemma, Herndon helped out by selling peanuts, molasses, and axle grease. He was acquainted with some of the leading Black intellectual and political leaders in the country and participated in several organizations with a national political or economic focus. currency: 'USD', A photograph of the house under construction contained the caption, "said to be the finest Negro residence in the South," according to Merritt's book. Atlanta, GA 30318 At a very young age he worked as a laborer and peddler, helping his family to eke out a living in the harsh rural area. never acknowledged paternity. Get facts about Alan Sugar here. In 1905, his property holdings were valued at nearly $325,000. In 1858, Alonzo Franklin Herndon was born into slavery in Walton County. His insurance business reported more than $400,000 in assets in 1922. color:#ddd; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19192-1550 line-height:22px; .flex-slider li .caption-content h1{ h3.view{background:#0e0e0e;} After his first wifes death in 1910, Herndon married Jessie Gillespie of Chicago, whose influence and support also aided her husband in his business and social life. After six months Herndon purchased half interest in the shop, entering into a partnership with one of the few free Blacks operating barbering establishments since before the Civil War. He gave generous support and resources to such local institutions and causes as the YMCA; Atlanta University; the Leonard Street, Carrie Steele, and Diana Pace orphanages; the Herndon Day Nursery; and the First Congregational Church. #main-menu-wrapper nav .mega .thunk-widget-menu a:hover,#menu .mega-menu-posts a:hover, Herndon died in 1927, at 69. into a half dozen new states, including Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas. @media screen and (max-width: 550px){body,p{ In 1910, Herndons wife died unexpectedly. Alonzo Herndon and Booker T. Washington - Atlanta Life Project. Lets explore some facts about Herndon and the impact he made, including one of the last physical monuments that symbolize his success, the Herndon House. When W. E. B. Herndon saved other failing insurance companies by merging their company with Atlanta Life Insurance, claiming his efforts were designed to build confidence in black businesses and save jobs for African American men and women. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); List choice .header-wrap-top .top-social-icon li a:hover{color:#f4c85e;} With Herndon playing a pivotal role as president and chief stockholder, the small association expanded its assets from $5,000 in 1905 to more than $400,000 by 1922. display: block; At the time, she was teaching drama and elocution at Atlanta University, from which she had only recently graduated, and was the sole African American woman on its faculty. [1] In 1905, Herndon purchased a failing mutual aid association . Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. WABE: This Day in History: Alonzo Herndon Establishes Atlanta Mutual Life Association, Black Enterprise: "Unbeatable Combination", Georgia Stories: The Alonzo Herndon Family. His holdings eventually came to include more than 100 residential and commercial properties. The family worked chiefly as sharecroppers on plantations in Social Circle, Georgia, 40 miles east of Atlanta. One of the few avenues for close, respectful contact between African Americans and Whites in the south, the barber profession provided an opportunity for financial success for many Blacks in the decades after the Civil War. After being emancipated, his family found a job in sharecropper in Social Circle, Georgia. Herndon brought in experienced, professional management with a sound business plan that included an expanded, knowledgeable sales force and a new network of branch offices. Famous for founding and heading the successful Atlanta Family Life Insurance Company, he is also remembered as the . Henderson, Alexa. .flex-slider.button-three .read-more.read-more-slider a:hover{ The Herndons were very proud to be African Americans. He was also involved in the Southview Cemetery Association, Atlanta Loan and Trust, and the Atlanta State Savings Bank, and was a key investor in Gate City Drug Company, the first black-owned drugstore on Auburn Avenue. She was the decorator. Herndon and the prominent writer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass both spent their early years in slavery. background: #f4c85e; At the time of his death Herndons real estate holdings were valued at nearly $325,000. } His father was his mothers White owner, so he was kept on the mans farm. In New Georgia Encyclopedia. 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Herndon died in Atlanta on July 21, 1927 at the age of 69. Alonzo Herndon is one of the most well-known black businessmen in Atlanta and Georgias history. .page-template-magazine-template.page .header-style-one .header #main-menu-wrapper a#pull:before { .upcoming-events li { It was located 40 miles to the east of Atlanta. Setting a pattern of financial prudence he would maintain throughout his life, he never failed to set aside a portion of his earnings, no matter how meager, as savings for the future. }. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Herndon soon became a major philanthropist, investing his time and money into black causes, including co-founding the Niagara Movement, the forerunner of the NAACP. border-color:#f4c85e; color:#f4c85e; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; line-height:22px; . ." At age 20, Herndon decided to broaden his horizons, first taking a job as a farmhand in the nearby town of Senoia, then taking a part-time position in Jonesboro as a barber. Despite several crises in the industry and lean times generally, Atlanta Life under Herndons leadership survived and progressed into the next decades as a secure and prosperous business. The Herndon House is located at 587 University Pl NW, Atlanta, GA 30314 on the campus of Morris Brown College. [3], In 1893, Herndon married Adrienne Elizabeth McNeil, a professor at Atlanta University who helped him gain an education and refinement. Do you find this information helpful? Historian Marcellus Barksdale describes the Crystal Palace as fitting its name. He was born, Facts about Catherine Mcauley talk about the famous person who established the Sisters of Mercy in 1831. Age AintWhat?! "I knew my mother would never consent to my leaving the farm, so I took my little hand trunk on my shoulder and stole silently away in the darkness of night," he wrote in a memoir, according to Carole Merritt's The Herndons: An Atlanta Family. } By 1916, the Association was reorganized as a stock company capitalized at $25,000, most of which Herndon bought. Herndon was most involved on the local level. The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). his personal fortune grew, Herndon entered the field of insurance. They had one son together, Norris B. Herndon. Telephone: (908) 903-2000 With Herndon playing a pivotal role as president and chief stockholder, the small association expanded its assets from $5,000 in 1905 to more than $400,000 by 1922. The young Herndon was one of 25 slaves owned by his father, who .format-quote blockquote, .single .format-quote blockquote, .single blockquote{ Herndon studied barbering, and owned and managed a string of barbershops in downtown Atlanta after the Civil War, one of which was considered to be the most elegant in the . . [5] It had been closely associated with supporting Clark University and other AMA schools. ::selection{ Whenever possible, he reinsured the policyholders and merged the faltering business into Atlanta Life in an effort to conserve confidence in Black businesses and save jobs for Black men and women. See whats poppin in the ATL! . color:#5a5d5a; "Herndon, Alonzo Franklin Today the home is registered as a National Historic Place. alonzo herndon in 1905 herndon bought a failing .home .header .logo h1 a,.home .header .logo p,.header .logo a,.header .logo p,header.smaller .header .logo h1 a{ Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. And the company he founded, Atlanta Life, continues to prosper into the 21st century. U.S.A. .last-btn #menu >li:last-child > a { font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } .woocommerce-product-gallery{ opacity: 1 !important; } .home .navigation .menu > li > a:hover, .home .navigation ul li a:hover, .home header #main-menu-wrapper .menu-item-has-children > a:hover:after, Carole Merritt, The Herndons: An Atlanta Family (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2002). According to the Atlanta Journal, Herndon and his all-Black barbering staff were known from Richmond all the way to Mobile as the best barbers in the South. Following the racial practices of the era, the Black barbers served an exclusively white clientele composed of the citys leading lawyers, judges, politicians, and businessmen. AtlantaFi, Alonzo Herndon: 8 Things To Know About The Atlanta Business Pioneer. Within six months, Herndon became a sought-after talent in his new trade. Merritt, The Herndons: An Atlanta Family (Athens: University of Georgia 64. He soon founded the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, where he served as president. Herndon set out to make the Atlanta Benevolent and Protective Association into a leading provider of life insurance for African Americans in the South. Alonzo Herndon was born in Social Circle, GA in 1858 to a white master and slave, and at the end of the Civil War, he was sent away with his mother, brother, and grandparents. 20072023 Blackpast.org. His success in barbering was spectacular, and as his earnings grew, he invested in real estate in Atlanta and in Florida. When he was a teen, his father hired him as an apprentice on the farm for the sum of $25 the first year, $30 the second, and $40 the third, nearly all of which was paid to his mother. }h2,.two-grid-layout .post-content h2,.standard-layout .post-title h2{ That same year, he re-opened for business at an address of 66 Peachtree Street that would become his flagship enterprise for the next several decades. Looking to make his fortune in a place that offered better opportunities for blacks, Herndon relocated to Rome, Georgia, and then Chattanooga, Tennessee, but at one point was so discouraged by his business setbacks that he thought about quitting altogether and taking in a job a plow factory. The magnificent Beaux Arts mansion Herndon built for his first wife between 1905 and 1910 became an Atlanta landmark and tourist attraction. .home.page-template-magazine-template .navigation .menu > li > a:hover{ Public Co, 15 Mountain View Road, P.O. He was succeeded as head of his financial empire by his second wife, Jessie Gillespie, then later by his son Norris. Subscribe to ournews alerts here, follow uson Twitterand like us onFacebook. !function(c,h,i,m,p){m=c.createElement(h),p=c.getElementsByTagName(h)[0],m.async=1,m.src=i,p.parentNode.insertBefore(m,p)}(document,"script","https://chimpstatic.com/mcjs-connected/js/users/6eb80f4e9d913d31aa4e9667f/bbe0b3a0e8ef645f34a40bece.js"); He used his savings to purchase a half interest in the barbershop, and then less than a year later, he purchased the balance. .content .standard-layout .post.format-standard .post-img{ .magazine-single-box .header-style-one .header #main-menu-wrapper{ background:#f4c85e; } In mourning, he threw himself into managing his new business. His holdings eventually encompassed extensive real estate, and one of the nation's largest black-owned businesses and most successful insurance companies, Atlanta Life. In 1893, he was married to Adrienne Elizabeth McNeil, an Atlanta University drama instructor, scion of one of the citys most important black families and widely regarded as a great beauty. Alonzo Herndon, a former slave born in 1858 in Social Circle, sought to better himself and ultimately became Atlanta's first African-American millionaire. Stock Exchanges: N, One Liberty Place Wife between 1905 and It was located 40 miles east of Atlanta sharecropper in Social,... Located 40 miles to the east of Atlanta field of Insurance career as a businessman alonzo Today... On July 21, 1927 at the time of his financial empire by his son.. Home is registered as a businessman the magnificent Beaux Arts mansion Herndon built for his first wife 1905! Chiefly as sharecroppers on plantations in Social Circle, Georgia, 40 miles to the of! Estate in Atlanta and Georgias history leading provider of Life Insurance Company, invested! 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