Atlanta Life Financial Group

The Atlanta Life Financial Group was founded in 1905 by Alonzo Herndon. The headquarters location is in the historic Sweet Auburn Avenue of Atlanta (Henderson, 2003). “The Atlanta Life Financial Group is the only African-American owned and privately held stock company in the country with a financial services platform that includes asset management and insurance” (Atlanta Life Partnership). The company is deemed one of the strongest Black-owned financial institutions to become prominent in the early twentieth century (Henderson, 2003). The company has a strong relationship with Delta Air Lines; by doing so, they aim to generate growth for both companies while allowing the participation of the African American Community to grow (Atlanta Life Partnership). 

Alonzo Franklin Herndon, the founder of the company, was born June 26, 1858, in Walton County, Georgia, thus meaning that due to the time he was born into slavery (Henderson, 2004). His father was Frank Herndon, a white slave owner, while his mother, Sophenie, was an enslaved woman. He grew up on the farm owned by Frank Herndon in Social Circle Georgia (Henderson, 2004). In 1865 he was freed from enslavement (Black Excellist). Once freed, Herndon and his family had to find a way to maintain themselves, which is why they became sharecroppers (Black Excellist). And Herndon also became a laborer and peddler of peanuts, homemade molasses, and axle grease (Henderson, 2004). 

In the year 1878, Herndon left Social Circle, Georgia and resided in Senoia, and began learning the barbering trade, but after being there for a few months, he then left for Jonesboro, Georgia (Henderson, 2004). In Jonesboro, Georgia, Herndon opened his first barbershop. Within months of living there, he came to own three barbershops and became known as someone with the best barbershops in town (About Alonzo F. Herndon). Through his barbershop, he was able to employ 23 Black barbers, but because of Jim Crow Laws, they could only serve white people (About Alonzo F. Herndon). Herndon also did more for the Black community. In Vine City, he bought rundown homes, renovated them, and then rented them out to Black people (About Alonzo F. Herndon). And through Atlanta Life Insurance Company, he was able to do more.

In 1905, Herndon entered the insurance finance business and purchased a struggling firm by the name of Atlanta Benevolent In Protective Association, which had been founded by a Black pastor (Black Excellist). Which he incorporated as the Atlanta Mutual Insurance Association (Henderson, 2004). In 1916, the firm became a stockholder organization, which Herndon supported by purchasing approximately 90% of the stock (Henderson, 2003). By doing this he was able to expand the assets from $5,000 in 1905 to more than $400,000 by the year 1922 (Henderson, 2004). In the same year, 1922, Herndon reorganized the firm to Atlanta Life Insurance Company (Black Excellist). 

With the company, Herndon helped the Black community afford insurance policies when white companies rejected them (Black Excellist). When Herndon took notice of failing Black enterprises, he would merge them into Atlanta Life, to save jobs for Black men and women (Henderson, 2004). When it came to the Civil Rights Movement, the company offered “employment to fired teachers, posting bail for jailed students, and provided meeting space and printing and communications facilities to civil rights groups” (Henderson, 2003). Apart from this, Martin Luther King’s work for civil rights was financed by Atlanta Life (Atlanta Life Partnership). And as of April 2001, the name was changed to Atlanta Life Financial Group (Henderson, 2003).

“About Alonzo F. Herndon.” Youtube, 5 Nov. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7KR7JBxOfE.

“Alonzo F. Herndon.” Atlanta History Center, https://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/digital/collection/athpc/id/2197. 

“Atlanta Life Partnership.” AtlantaLife, https://www.atlantalifepartnership.com/.

“Black Excellist: Alonzo Herndon - American Barber and Millionaire.” Youtube, 6 June 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l6UPq7jcDw. 

Henderson, Alexa Benson. “Atlanta Life Insurance Company.” New Georgia Encyclopedia, 1 Apr. 2003, https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/atlanta-life-insurance-company/. 

Henderson, Alexa Benson. “Alonzo Herndon.” New Georgia Encyclopedia, 7 Sept. 2004, https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/alonzo-herndon-1858-1927/.  

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Alonzo Herndon, and Neighborhood Union. Herndon & Atlanta Life Building, 229-243 Auburn Avenue, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA. trans by Jandoli, Lizmitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ga0208/>.