In honor of Black History Month, we did some digging into the history of our industry. We learned about important Black historical figures, and we want to take time to highlight the role they played in shaping modern insurance- creating access, protection, and opportunity when it didn’t exist.
The insurance industry goes back farther than you might think. We see forms of insurance mentioned as early as 2000 B.C. in the Code of Hammurabi. While it evolved and formalized over the centuries, humankind has always been interested in having safeguards against loss. Later, we see the first life insurance policy issued in 1583, and after the Great London Fire, conversations around property insurance began.
In American history, like many things, insurance had systematic inequality built into it. During the slave trade, insurance was primarily used to benefit the Commonwealth, insuring cargo ships on their voyages and the lives of the enslaved people on board. Later, slave owners insured the lives of enslaved individuals as a form of property insurance.
As insurance became more available to the general population, most companies continued to discriminate against freed Black Americans through outright denial or higher premiums that made coverage financially inaccessible. After being denied, Black Americans took matters into their own hands in an effort to provide aid to their communities.
In 1810, the African Insurance Company, the first Black-owned insurance company, was founded by industry pioneers Joseph Randolph, William Coleman, and Cyrus Porter. It followed the Free African Society model, pooling money to help the community access aid and burial services. While it was a short-lived venture, it proved what was possible and created a model for others to follow.
John Merrick, Charles Clinton Spaulding, and Aaron McDuffie Moore, September 1903
NC Mutual employee group photo, September 1929
In 1898, NC Mutual was founded by John Merrick, Charles Clinton Spalding, and Aaron McDuffie Moore. The company grew quickly, and by 1906 it had become the largest Black-owned business in America. The founders made a calculated move to Durham, North Carolina, purchasing many neighboring buildings on Parrish Street- soon to be known as Black Wall Street. This area became one of America’s most successful African American communities and a vital economic hub for those living under segregation and unable to patronize White-owned businesses.
Busy Black Wall Street, Late 1950s
One of the most notable success stories is that of Alonzo Herndon. Born into slavery, he was emancipated with his family at the age of seven in 1865 following the Civil War. As a young man with very limited means and just one year of formal education, he learned the barbering trade and worked his way up to owning three barbershops. One of them was a luxury shop that served presidents, judges, businessmen, and lawyers. He later began investing in real estate and insurance.
Atlanta Life Insurance employee group photo, around 1925
In 1905, he founded Atlanta Life Insurance, a company that remains significant and successful today. By 1916, Atlanta Life was recognized as a stock company, with Herndon purchasing the majority of the stock himself. In 1922, the company achieved legal reserve status- something only four other Black-owned insurance companies had accomplished at the time. Herndon, born into slavery, became Atlanta’s first Black millionaire.
In Chicago in 1919, Frank L. Gillespie founded the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company, the first Black-owned insurance agency outside of the South. By 1925, the company had opened branches in Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri, and Washington, D.C. Having written more than $5 million in policies, Supreme Liberty Life survived the Great Depression and expanded to become one of the nation’s largest minority-owned insurance companies.
There are ugly parts of history- slavery, segregation, systemic oppression, inequality and setbacks we may never fully know. Yet the insurance industry is another example of how Black Americans found a way forward, paved paths, and initiated necessary change, leaving the world better than they found it.
Today, we do our part by honoring the pioneers who came before us and by working every day to help initiate change and make the world a more fair, just, and equitable place.
SOURCES:
https://davies-group.com/northamerica/knowledge/black-history-month-insurance-industry-trailblazers/
https://www.frederickmutual.com/newsitems/black-history-month-insurance-68rsg
https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/african-insurance-company-1810-1813/
https://www.ncpedia.org/north-carolina-mutual-life-insuranc
https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/atlanta-life-insurance-company/
https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/alonzo-herndon-1858-1927/
https://webapps1.chicago.gov/landmarksweb/web/landmarkdetails.htm?lanId=1431