Through the

auspices of the Peachtree City Library Commission, a month-long study

of the Alonzo Herndon family and business has been on exhibit at the Peachtree

City Library.

Culmination

of the exhibit came Sunday afternoon when Carole Merritt, director of

the Herndon Home in Atlanta, and Jesse Hill Jr., former president and

CEO of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, spoke at the library.

A hundred persons

listened to them speak on "The Herndons: Style and Substance of an

African American Family."

Merritt has

been with the Herndon Home since 1983. She said that Alonzo Franklin Herndon

was born in 1858 in Social Circle, the son of a slave and a white farm

owner. He was reared on the farm, but never officially recognized by his

father. After emancipation he continued working as a sharecropper until

he saved enough money to leave Social Circle.

His brother

was a barber in McDonough and at this time, blacks could earn more money

in that profession than any other. Alonzo's first barber shop was in Jonesboro,

about 1878, and in 1882 he went to Atlanta entering into business with

a prominent black barber. At this time by law and by custom, the barbers

served white men only.

"The Crystal

Palace" was next, and was a barbershop he opened in 1902 on Peachtree

Street. There were 23 custom barber chairs outfitted with porcelain, brass

and nickel and the shop had elaborate crystal chandeliers, marble paneling,

tile floors and mahogany doors. Hair cuts were a quarter, and a shave

and shoe shine cost one dime each.

His father

died in 1904 and Alonzo was not mentioned in the will. But Alonzo was

making $8,000 a year at a time when the average black worker made $600

a year. Alonzo had more money on hand at his father's death than the amount

in his father's will. Alonzo had gone from sharecropper to successful

entrepreneur in 20 years.

Through the

Wheat Street Baptist Church he bought a small burial association for $140.

This grew into the Atlanta Life Insurance Company and when he died in

1927, the company had over a million dollars in assets. Today it is the

second largest black insurance company in America, operating in 17 states,

and has about $200 million in assets. Rosa Parks was a clerk for the company

in Birmingham, Ala., at one time.

Jesse Hill

Jr. was born in St. Louis, Mo., in the year Herndon died and was graduated

from the University of Michigan in 1949 with a master's in business administration

specializing in actuarial science.

When he retired

from Atlanta Life Insurance in 1995, it had been the only job he had ever

had. He was also only the third president in its 85 years. Hill spoke

about his relationship with Norris Herndon, the only child of Alonzo and

the second president of the insurance company. He also outlined the growth

of the company and the role it played in keeping many small black businesses

afloat, including Citizens Trust Company.

The Herndon

Home was recently named a National Historic Landmark and is at 587 University

Place, N.W., Atlanta. Tours are conducted hourly from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,

Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

Phone 404-581-9813.

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