Social and Cultural Aspects of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company
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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 4-5-2010 Beyond the Business: Social and Cultural Aspects of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company Alisha R. Winn University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Winn, Alisha R., "Beyond the Business: Social and Cultural Aspects of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company" (2010). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1809 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Beyond the Business: Social and Cultural Aspects of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company by Alisha R. Winn A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Susan D. Greenbaum, Ph.D. Cheryl Rodriguez, Ph.D. Kevin Yelvington, Ph.D. Antoinette Jackson, Ph.D. Barbara Shircliffe, Ph.D. Date of Approval: April 5, 2010 Keywords: black, entrepreneurship, preservation, museum, herndon, class, segregation, identity © Copyright 2010, Alisha R. Winn Dedication For my father and my mother, Ulysses and Alice Winn. You supported me all the way to the end. I love you so much. I am so blessed to have such great parents. What you instilled in me, will never part. Thank you for your unconditional love. Acknowledgments I thank God for giving me the strength to get through this dissertation process. He sustained me. I give Him the glory. I would like to thank the current and former employees of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company and the Atlanta Life Financial Group and the Herndon Home Museum for their support and cooperation. I would also like to acknowledge various other individuals and organizations that prepared me for, and aided and inspired me in the course of, this research: the Alonzo F. and Norris B. Herndon Foundation, Auburn Avenue African American Research Library, the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Florida, the Department of Africana Studies at the University of South Florida, the late Dr. Trevor Purcell, the late Dr. Ginger Baber, the late Ms. Kathy Watson, Dr. Deborah Plant, Dr. H. Roy Kaplan, Dr. Susan Greenbaum, Dr. Cheryl Rodriguez, Dr. Kevin Yelvington, Dr. Antoinette Jackson, Dr. Barbara Shircliffe, the late Mr. Ronald Brown, Mr. Wesley Chanault, Mr. Lonnie King, Mr. Charles Black, Ms. Kerrie Williams, Dr. Carole Merritt, the Herndon Home Museum, Mr. Rod Hale, Dr. Doug Falen, Dr. Joan Holmes, Dr. Jonathan Gayles, Dr. Elgin Klugh, the Florida Education Fund and the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program, Dr. Elizabeth Bird, Dr. Arthur Murphy, Dr. Kathryn Kozaitis, Dr. Susan Love Brown, Dr. Betsy Schumann, Ms. Roberta Phillips, Ms. Debbie Roberson, Mrs. Sue Rhinehart, Mr. William Stanley, Dr. Beverly Ward, Dr. Samuel Wright, Dr. Naomi Yavneh, the Winn Family, the ‘S’ Avenue Church of Christ, Pastor. Jonathan B. Young, Mrs. Lada Harland, Bethune-Cookman University, and all those who supported me. Table of Contents List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ......................................................................................................................v Abstract .............................................................................................................................. vi Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Importance of the Study ...........................................................................................7 Preservation of Archives ..............................................................................7 Telling the Atlanta Life Story ......................................................................9 Desegregation and Public Accommodation ...............................................11 A Native Anthropologist Researching A Legacy ..................................................12 Content Summary ..................................................................................................14 Review of the Literature ....................................................................................................17 Economic Community Development and Mutual Aid ..........................................17 African Economic Systems ........................................................................20 Challenges ..................................................................................................21 Freedman’s Bank .......................................................................................23 The Solution: Mutual Societies ..................................................................24 Insurance ....................................................................................................26 Black Business and Segregation ................................................................19 Women .......................................................................................................30 Economic Anthropology ............................................................................34 Identity and Class ...................................................................................................36 Producing Identity ......................................................................................36 Black Institutions: Beyond the Business....................................................38 Civil Rights and Black Business ................................................................42 The Changing of Business .........................................................................44 Debates and Opposing Views ...................................................................47 Defining the Black Elite .............................................................................51 Class Distinction ........................................................................................53 Desegregation and Class ............................................................................54 The Anthropology of Museums .............................................................................57 Defining History, Defining the Past...........................................................58 Emergence of African American Museums ...............................................64 Case: Remembering St. Petersburg Oral History Project ..........................67 Challenges in Museums .............................................................................70 Maintaining Items ..........................................................................70 i Funding ..........................................................................................71 Proper Operations ..........................................................................72 Methodology ....................................................................................................................78 Challenges in the Research ...................................................................................78 Research Questions and Methods ..........................................................................79 Archival Research ..................................................................................................80 The Herndon Home Museum.................................................................................83 Museum Politics and the Unexpected ........................................................83 Auburn Avenue Research Library .........................................................................87 Archival Data .........................................................................................................88 Ethnohistory ...........................................................................................................89 Preserving the Archives .............................................................................90 Participant Observation ..........................................................................................91 Interviews ...............................................................................................................94 Oral History ...........................................................................................................96 Informant Types .....................................................................................................98 Former Employees .....................................................................................88 Current Employees...................................................................................100 Affiliates with the Company ....................................................................100 Former Museum Employees ....................................................................101 Informants and Participants .....................................................................101 Analysis and Interpretation ..................................................................................103 Reciprocity and Ethnical Considerations .............................................................103