Atlanta Life Insurance Company

Atlanta Life Insurance Company, also known as Atlanta Life Financial Group and Atlanta Life General Agency, was founded by Alonzo Herndon in Atlanta, Georgia. Alonzo Herndon, born into slavery, started in Atlanta as a young barber and eventually became Atlanta’s richest African American and a highly successful businessman. The company was one of the most prominent African-American businesses in the United States for many years. In 1905, Herndon purchased The Atlanta Benevolent and Protective Association, later called Atlanta Mutual, for $140 and deposited $5000 with the state under their requirement for a kind of guarantee fund. This was renamed the Atlanta Life Insurance Company in 1922. The company expanded with branches in numerous other Southern states. The Atlanta Life Insurance Company building, built in 1920, is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.