Alonzo Herndon

Born into slavery, he became one of the first African American millionaires in the United States, first achieving success by owning and operating three large barber shops in the city that served prominent white men.

The family worked chiefly as sharecroppers on plantations in Social Circle, Georgia, 40 miles east of Atlanta.

[2][3] In 1878, Herndon left Social Circle on foot with eleven dollars in savings and approximately one year of formal schooling.

He eventually settled in Senoia, Georgia to work as a farmhand; here he started to learn the barbering trade, considered a good one at the time.

He began by buying a failing mutual aid association in 1905, when the state of Georgia increased capital requirements for such businesses.

[6] In 1893, Herndon married Adrienne Elizabeth McNeil, a professor at Atlanta University who helped him gain an education and refinement.

His son Norris attended Atlanta University and Harvard Business School before entering his father's company full time.