Voices from the Field
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Voices from the Field Voices from the Field Prohibition, war bonds, the formation of social security—the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors has seen it all. In August 1989, the National Association of Life Underwriters—later to be renamed NAIFA— published Voices from the Field, a seminal work chronicling the history of the insurance industry and the association. This book was the result of four years of research and writing by former Advisor Today senior editor George Norris. Voices from the Field is an engaging look at the lives and events that shaped our dynamic industry. The book remains a lasting tribute to everyone who has worked to make NAIFA what it is today, but particularly to Norris, who dedicated 21 years to the association. *** “Historians have, perhaps, been too preoccupied with mortality tables and the founding dates of companies to consider the astonishing influence that selling method, or the lack of it, has had upon the development of life insurance in every age.” —J. Owen Stalson, Marketing Life Insurance: Its History in America This book is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of unnamed and often unsung, life underwriters who, over the past 100 years, have labored to provide security and financial independence to millions of their fellow Americans. Foreword by Alan Press, 1988-1989 NALU President Preface by Jack E. Bobo, 1989 NALU Executive Vice President Introduction Acknowledgements Chapter 1 Laying the Foundation—A Meeting at the Parker House Leading Figures—Ransom, Carpenter, Blodgett and Plummer Conditions Leading to the Foundation of the NALU Rise of Modern Life Insurance and the General Agency System Issues and Accomplishments of the First 15 Years Chapter 2 In the Wake of the Armstrong Investigation A Royal Commission Investigates Life Insurance Operations in Canada A Period of Growth and Visibility for the NALU Under Strong Leadership The NALU Plays a Leading Role in Insurance Education http://www.naifa.org/about/vftf/vftf.html (1 of 3)8/20/2010 3:08:30 PM Voices from the Field The NALU During World War I Chapter 3 The Post-War Decade The NALU’s Extension of Activity The Agents Move for Recognition Chapter 4 The Depression and Aftermath Annual Conventions and Midyear Meetings The NALU Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary Chapter 5 The Agents Earn Their Wings World War II The NALU Joins the Industry in Legislative Battles The NALU Establishes the National Quality Award Chapter 6 Controversies and Schisms (1946-1956) The Foundation of LUTC The Nola Patterson Affair GAMC Formally Organized Chapter 7 The NALU Goes to Washington Dispute Over Minimum Deposit Insurance Plans GAMC Stages First LAMP Meeting The NALU Celebrates Its Diamond Jubilee Year The NALU Increases Political Activity U.S. Senate Antitrust and Monopoly Subcommittee Investigate Life Insurance The NALU Responds to Consumerist Activism Chapter 8 http://www.naifa.org/about/vftf/vftf.html (2 of 3)8/20/2010 3:08:30 PM Voices from the Field The NALU Reaches the Century Mark FTC Releases a Study Critical of the Insurance Industry Formation of the Women Life Underwriters Conference Drop in Local Membership The NALU Issues Statements on AIDS The NALU Combats a New Wave of Attacks The NALU Celebrates a Century of Service http://www.naifa.org/about/vftf/vftf.html (3 of 3)8/20/2010 3:08:30 PM VFTF - Foreword Voices from the Field Foreword People…Money…Love: three simple yet powerful elements. Life underwriters helping people, to guarantee money, when it is needed, for those they love, from its founding 100 years ago, through the present, that’s what NALU has been all about. And that’s what Voices from the Field is all about. It is the story of the National Association of Life Underwriters. Organizational histories can make dull reading. They are often no more than dry recitations of dates, events, products and processes. But two things make Voices from the Field different. First, the story of NALU is primarily one of people—the people who founded it, and the people who built it into the premier professional trade association it is today. People are inherently more interesting than dates or processes, and NALU’s people have always been extraordinarily diverse, dynamic, creative and courageous. The story of NALU is their story. Second, NALU is particularly fortunate to have George Norris as the author of our 100th anniversary history. Authors of organizational histories are usually historians first and storytellers only coincidentally, or not at all. George is a superb storyteller who cares deeply about NALU’s people. He is also an able historian who has committed many hours to scrupulous research. He has organized his material meticulously; he is immensely readable. You will enjoy Voices from the Field the first time you read it. You will want to keep it in your personal library and return to it again and again. It tells the story of dedicated men and women who, for 100 years, have sought to improve the products we sell and the business environment in which we function. Form the beginning, their mission has been to help consumers provide financial security, at fair and reasonable cost, and for those they love. Their story will make you proud of your profession and proud to carry that mission into the next 100 years. Alan Press, CLU, LUTCF 1988-1989 NALU President September 1989 Foreword by Alan Press, 1988-1989 NALU President Preface by Jack E. Bobo, 1989 NALU Executive Vice President Introduction Acknowledgements Chapter 1 Laying the Foundation—A Meeting at the Parker House Leading Figures—Ransom, Carpenter, Blodgett and Plummer Conditions Leading to the Foundation of the NALU Rise of Modern Life Insurance and the General Agency System Issues and Accomplishments of the First 15 Years Chapter 2 http://www.naifa.org/about/vftf/foreword.html (1 of 3)8/20/2010 3:08:31 PM VFTF - Foreword In the Wake of the Armstrong Investigation A Royal Commission Investigates Life Insurance Operations in Canada A Period of Growth and Visibility for the NALU Under Strong Leadership The NALU Plays a Leading Role in Insurance Education The NALU During World War I Chapter 3 The Post-War Decade The NALU's Extension of Activity The Agents Move for Recognition Chapter 4 The Depression and Aftermath Annual Conventions and Midyear Meetings The NALU Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary Chapter 5 The Agents Earn Their Wings World War II The NALU Joins the Industry in Legislative Battles The NALU Establishes the National Quality Award Chapter 6 Controversies and Schisms (1946-1956) The Foundation of LUTC The Nola Patterson Affair GAMC Formally Organized Chapter 7 The NALU Goes to Washington Dispute Over Minimum Deposit Insurance Plans GAMC Stages First LAMP Meeting The NALU Celebrates Its Diamond Jubilee Year http://www.naifa.org/about/vftf/foreword.html (2 of 3)8/20/2010 3:08:31 PM VFTF - Foreword The NALU Increases Political Activity U.S. Senate Antitrust and Monopoly Subcommittee Investigate Life Insurance The NALU Responds to Consumerist Activism Chapter 8 The NALU Reaches the Century Mark FTC Releases a Study Critical of the Insurance Industry Formation of the Women Life Underwriters Conference Drop in Local Membership The NALU Issues Statements on AIDS The NALU Combats a New Wave of Attacks The NALU Celebrates a Century of Service http://www.naifa.org/about/vftf/foreword.html (3 of 3)8/20/2010 3:08:31 PM VFTF - Preface Voices from the Field Preface In response to the well-deserved praise received on his 80th birthday, Winston Churchill had this to say: “I have never accepted what many people have kindly said, namely that I inspired the nation. It was the nation and the races dwelling all round the globe that had the lion heart. I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar.” As a significant and moving force in the growth and development of our country, the insurance industry has its own lion heart. That heart beats in hundreds of home offices, thousands of field offices, and tens of thousands of agents throughout the land. But it is the NALU that has had the luck to be called upon to give the roar. And roar it did! That is what Voices from the Field is all about. Who were the men and women who, a hundred years ago, raised their voices against intolerable conditions prevailing in the marketplace at that time? Who were the people who led the struggle for professional recognition though agent education, licensing and the promotion and adoption of ethical standards? Voices from the Field not only identifies them, it makes them live and become relevant to today’s unique challenges. Voices from the Field chronicles the changing times and conditions that we have had to adapt to, or overcome, throughout our history. And it points the was to a future where the pace of change will only increase. But the creativity and sheer determination of people working with people that have served us so well in the past will not fail us in the future. During most of 1986 and 1987, NALU engaged in an exhaustive strategic planning exercise that is already positioning our organization for a second century of service. I think you will experience a vicarious thrill in reading George Norris’ account of the early days of NALU and the visionaries who constructed the foundation on which we continue to build today. And I suspect you will acquire a new sense of pride and appreciation for the significant work we do. Jack E. Bobo, CLU, FLMI NALU Executive Vice President September 1989 Foreword by Alan Press, 1988-1989 NALU President Preface by Jack E.