Alonzo Herndon Builds Atlanta Barbershop Empire, Foundation of Black Wealth

Born enslaved in Georgia, Alonzo Herndon opens his first Atlanta barbershop in the 1880s and by the 1890s operates three elegant shops serving Atlanta's white elite, earning him the title of 'wealthiest Black man in Atlanta.' The capital he accumulated funded his 1905 founding of Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of the largest Black-owned businesses in U.S. history.