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Alonzo Herndon

Profile

Full Name: Alonzo Franklin Herndon
Born: June 26, 1858
Died: July 21, 1927
Notable: Entrepreneur
Nationality: American

Media

YouTube Video

Podcast

Show Notes

Following emancipation, Herndon and his maternal family were driven from his former master’s / father’s farm and began sharecropping to support themselves. As a boy, Herndon received one year of schooling and sold various goods in his spare time to help support his family.

After leaving home in his early 20’s, he spent a few months training as a barber before opening his first shop in Jonesboro, GA followed by three shops in Atlanta. Herndon invested the profits from his barbershops in real estate and the purchase of insurance companies.

The Atlanta Life Insurance Company still exists to this day and remains one of the top Black financial companies in America.

Works Cited

“Alonzo Herndon (1858-1927).” New Georgia Encyclopedia, www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/alonzo-herndon-1858-1927.

“Alonzo Herndon, Pioneering Businessman.” African American Registry, aaregistry.org/story/alonzo-herndon-pioneering-businessman.

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