Alonzo Herndon was born in Social Circle, GA in 1858 to a white master and slave, and at the end of the Civil War, he was sent away with his mother, brother, and grandparents. They were homeless and living in poverty. Herndon worked as a sharecropper for several years before opening his first business–a barbershop–in Clayton County. Eventually he moved to Atlanta and his barbershop business boomed. He got into real estate and made more money before entering the insurance field. He started the Atlanta Life Insurance company in the early 1900s and it grew prosperous over several years. Herndon influenced Atlanta outside of his own companies as well. As a wealthy black business owner, he was a symbol for many others who were inspired by his work. Black entrepreneurship was one of his passions, and he worked to save failing black businesses in the area.The African American community looked to him for political and economic leadership. Herndon supported the community and local institutions like the YMCA, Atlanta University, local orphanages, the Herndon Day Nursery, and First Congregational Church. He became Atlanta’s first African American millionaire.

Herndon was a founding member of Booker T. Washington’s National Negro Business League in 1900. Washington believed that black entrepreneurship was vital, so it makes sense that Herndon would support him. Washington founded the league to further the development of African American businesses as a way to achieve social equality. He believed that the community had to work on itself first before asking to be considered equal to whites. Because of these views, Washington was a very controversial figure in American history. He was born enslaved in Virginia, but was freed at the age of nine. He became the first principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (Tuskegee University). As principal, he practiced this philosophy of economic advancement. He wanted African Americans to attain their constitutional rights by bettering themselves and developing useful skills. He advised black people to “compromise” with segregation. He didn’t have much connection with the Atlanta Life Insurance Company other than his relationship with Herndon.