Norris Bumstead Herndon (1897-1977)

March 09, 2016 
/ Contributed By: Euell A. Dixon

Norris B. Herndon

Norris B. Herndon

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Norris Bumstead Herndon was the second president of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, founded by his father, Alonzo Herndon, in 1905. Herndon was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 15, 1897, the only child of Adrienne Elizabeth McNeil, a graduate and teacher at Atlanta University, and Alonzo Herndon. His familyโ€™s light complexion allowed them to easily fit into the surrounding white community without question, and Herndon’s early education was in the Atlanta Public School System. In 1905, Alonzo Herndon took seven-year-old Norris to the founding meeting of the Niagara Movement, the precursor organization to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Norris Herndonโ€™s mother died in 1910, just four months after the family moved into their new home. It devastated young Herndon, who–according to friends–was struggling with his sexuality and identity. With a stern father who insisted upon โ€œthe straight and narrow course,โ€ Herndon learned to deny his feelings toward men and conduct a very private social life as an adult.

In 1919, Herndon graduated from Atlanta University. He then obtained a Masterโ€™s in Business Administration from Harvard Universityโ€™s Business School in Massachusetts in 1921. He was one of the only two African Americans in his graduating class. Young Herndon joined his fatherโ€™s firm, first as a cashier and then eventually as the companyโ€™s first vice president.

After his fatherโ€™s death in 1927, and at the age of twenty-eight, Herndon was elected the second president of Atlanta Life Insurance Company. In that same election, his stepmother, Jessie (Gillespie), became vice president. When he took the helm, company assets totaled just over $1 million, but through decades of cautious management and prudent investments, including some significant acquisitions, Atlanta Lifeโ€™s assets grew to $54 million. At the time of Herndonโ€™s retirement in 1973, Atlanta Life had grown to a company with assets of $84 million.

Shortly after his stepmother, Jessie, died in 1947, Herndon established the Alonzo F. and Norris B. Herndon Foundation, a charitable trust which today operates the Herndon Home as a museum, recounting the family’s rise from slavery to business leaders in the African American community.

Herndon also gave generously to the United Negro College Fund, the local African American YMCA, Atlanta University, Morris Brown College, First Congregational Church in Atlanta, the National Urban League, the NAACP, as well as many other organizations. In 1948, he donated the land on which Atlanta Universityโ€™s Herndon Stadium sits and the money to build the structure. Additionally, he was a member of the Atlanta Chapter of the Grand Order of Odd Fellows and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the first collegiate-level fraternal organization for African American men.

Despite his business success and philanthropic work through the Herndon Foundation, Norris Herndon was mostly reclusive. He rarely spoke and was seldom seen by his employees or by the public. The heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis was once invited to dinner at the Herndon home one day after a recent boxing exhibition in Atlanta. Louis walked in, looked around, and said, โ€œNice place you got here.โ€ Herndon replied, โ€œThank you,โ€ but said nothing else the entire evening. A puzzled Louis left shortly after dinner was served.

Norris Herndon never married. He died on June 7, 1977.ย  He was found in his bed, and the cause of death was listed as a heart attack.ย  He was later buried in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

About the Author

Author Profile

Multiple business owner Euell Dixon (formerly Nielsen) was born on November 3, 1973, in Sewell, New Jersey. The youngest daughter of scientist and author Eustace A. Dixon II and Travel Agent Eleanor Forman, Euell was an early reader and began tutoring at The Verbena Ferguson Tutoring Center for Adults at the age of 13. She has owned and operated five different companies in the past 20 years including Show and Touch, Stitch This, Get Twisted, Dimaje Photography, and Island Treazures.

Euell is a Veteran of the U.S. Army (Reserves) and a member of the Order of Eastern Star, House of Zeresh #103. She is also the 3rd Historian for First African Presbyterian Church, the nationโ€™s oldest African American Presbyterian church, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Additionally, Euell is also a photographer, storyteller, fiber artist, and a historical re-enactor, portraying the lives of Patriot Hannah Till, Elizabeth Gloucester, and Henrietta Duterte. Euell has been writing for Blackpast.org since 2014 and was given an award from the site in 2016 for being the only African American female who had almost 100 entries at the time. Since then, she has written over 300 entries. Euell currently lives in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Dixon, E. (2016, March 09). Norris Bumstead Herndon (1897-1977). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/norris-bumstead-herndon-1897-1977/

Source of the Author's Information:

Carole Merritt, The Herndons: An Atlanta Family, (Athens: University of
Georgia Press, 2002); Wesley Chenault and Stacy Braukman, Gay and
Lesbian Atlanta,
(Atlanta: Arcadia Publishing, 2008), John N. Ingham and
Lynne B. Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: A Biographical
Dictionary
, (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994).

Further Reading