Atlanta's Mid-20th Century Black Gay Philanthropist, Norris B. Herndon.

▶ Incredibly generous, Norris was the son of #business titan and #community #leader and formerly enslaved man Alonzo Herndon. Norris and his family valued and contributed greatly to support the start up of the NAACP, as well as to the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, and Tuskegee University. 

🔆 Norris was also creative with his inspiring #philanthropic choices and I believe instructive to folks in #fundraising. 

*** Background: the family's #wealth was originally built from Norris Herndon's #entrepreneurial father’s business, Atlanta Life Insurance Company (recently acquired by Atlanta Life Holdings in 2023).

🔵 After his father, Alonzo died, Norris Herndon took over the helm and exponentially grew the firm’s size to over $100 million by the mid-1970s. 

His sexuality, although known by those closest around him, was never made public. 

🔶 In his lifetime after his father's passing, Norris continued to financially support HBCUs, local YMCA’s, and several civil rights groups, among many other causes. 

➡ When Norris Herndon died, he left his #business to the Alonzo F. and Norris B. Herndon Foundation, which retained 70% ownership of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. [The Herndon Foundation]

Photo Source: The Reckoning, an initiative of the Counter Narrative Project - https://lnkd.in/ep_z94Kp
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