North Star; Bury Me in the East

Oh. Welcome to North Star. I'm Janet these two words when you hear names like Liberty supreme victory standard in people's you can envision patriotic symbols. Actually these are the names of black life insurance companies. If your mind's eye conjure thoughts of fireworks and church bells you're right. See how that fits in in a minute. The history of black on insurance companies is a great source of pride to blacks nationwide. But the history of these companies is especially unique in a state of Louisiana. You see by 1935 the state of Louisiana alone had as many minority owned insurance companies as the other states combined. There were 32 black. In the heart of the firms was not just a port company.

And epidemics. One hundred residents. It was a United States. An island surrounded by the tropical. It was a fever. There were lines and the open drains and standards of the world. Right now unmarked graves were common during the season of

fevers and disease in a matter of days. And we were silent. A church bells and the chanting of praise during the bells. A depressing effect on the sick and a terrorizing effect on the well often hospitals were abandoned. Most of them were dead and the rest of the countryside. Banks and other companies with them did not have the financial means to give their relatives a decent burial. So the first companies in Louisiana were begun to underwrite insurance which meant just enough to cover funeral costs company's policies. But in the service of the

community they were tremendous. Time and work. And diligently to pay for elaborate suffering and poverty and death. And African customs. Cultural practices and wakes the family.

But carriages are still performed in a. Sad slow march to the cemetery. And a hand. After the burial. Goes back to the African custom. Of a happy sendoff for the deceased. And the death and burial come. As much. Ritual. Where companies were proponents of. Let's visit one of the country's oldest companies. Get as well as company in New Orleans as we spoke with its president. I can hear my family saying about the time that they had the scarlet fever epidemic and we a lot of people were dying from the theory and even things like that and it was a great need to assist families. So for us to bury the dead and the monogamous associations. Service the people with the neighbors through the

churches and then through insurance. Indeed by the turn of the century one thousand persons per day would die at the height of the epidemics yearly. New Orleans lost as much as 10 percent of its population within a few days. Therefore insurance companies such as standard industrial life safety industrial life and victory life were begun to meet the needs of the infirmed unity life was launched in 1907 and by the 1930s had paid four million dollars to policyholders. Washington national life offer disability income to teachers and professionals during illness. Douglas life even then involved names well-known in politics now. Keystone life was owned by Dr Leo Butler of Baton Rouge with a branch office in New Orleans. By 1940 Louisiana industrial life was the largest of the minority owned firms. It had assets of a half million dollars

and a full 100 percent of Reserve and its outstanding policies whine tell me she remembers one of the other older insurance companies which provided medical care for pennies a day. Sharing through people's life insurance company. They didn't seem sure burials like we did here that I think is what they call Doctor in medicine policy as you could. And getting back to the Government Association is also of another with associations with we don't have a committee that would come in and give you money when you was sick and even with you you would have to get a private nurse and basically that was one of the main policies that the people's life insurance companies start out with because they branched out of the life insurance company and got to be a giant black insurance business before they were taken over with my life. And I remember I remember as a kid was when they would joke with Dr Sherry dissidence office look like the Greyhound bus station and the bus never came in and always a

crowd of people who had some means I think back Sherry would would see some time 20 30 40 patients just in the evening hours and it was such a need for that because they had a policy with the people's insurance company in it so the doctor was free then they can even take their prescription. And if I'm not mistaken I don't was it was the branch drugstore. That was downtown and I would get a discount and get free medicine and that was quite a good power so they had you could signal to free doc and you can get free prescriptions. By the 1960s many companies offering burial policies hit switch to ordinary life insurance firms writing health care coverage. Either drop the policies or the companies merged with larger concerns. Now but if you have the once powerful companies are left. Just so many insurance companies I would think that at one time maybe 20 years ago there might have been something like maybe 30 31 like insurance companies in the state of

Louisiana. And a lot of them mainly because of the reason that we fought because of benevolent association or because of the funeral home affiliation and made it a right burial insurance because that's all we wrote during the early days was nothing but their own insurance and nothing sure and to it that a person died they would have a policy that would assure them of a nice Christian burial. Since then insurance has gotten to be complicated and complex a lot of the families have died and we have fuel a life insurance company. The current you get is Willis funeral home insurance company. I one of the great survivors. Why dear me suz ancestors began building their business one hundred and thirty years ago at the same location. The insurance company now has a staff of 100 managing 4 million dollars in assets. There are seemingly little chance of the insurance company leaving the family's hands. So you are possibly the fifth or sixth generation of the family to rule. Yes.

And the words Mr. Geddes father would be the first generation. This is get this with clam would be the second generation. My mother and father would be the third. I would be the fool. And now all three of my children are working actively in the business. Two of them are even license a license from the directors. And they will become the fifth generation and I'm very happy to see as a proud grandfather my daughter has four children two boys and two girls and we all sort of looking at the sixth generation of the purple Shield insurance company began in 1947 was charted when many of the older companies were dissolving purple Shield has merged 13 other companies under its shield to garner three million dollars in assets with 75000 policies in four state wide co-founder and president Homer Sheeler clarifies what may have caused the demise of the older insurance companies.

If anything at all would have plagued black businesses it's been a one man operated company where when he was either the con almost have to start all over again or go out of business. So the reason that we continue is to involve other people. It is for the sake of perpetuate. Also we. An tired idea that if Mark sure and don't want it then I have no need to try to build it. We believe that the boy down the street or the girl the other street has as much right to become a president or push you as Marcieu has experienced a phenomenal growth because you share some of the statistics of that growth with us. We have grown approximately 10 percent each year we are in comas about a million eight hundred thousand.

We have projected ourselves within the next five years to double ourselves because in this change all that we do in the environment today talking was different about him putting about a million five hundred thousand dollars into the company. We're going to change our insurance capacity. Now we can only write up to fifteen hundred dollars and that's not an average feeling today calls anywhere from $2 to $3. So we want to be able to meet those demands. So we'll be able to write up as large as we want to write. So our growth in the past would be nothing compared to what we feel if we can grow in the future. There are numerous black owned insurance companies which now operate on a national basis supreme life in Chicago North Carolina mutual universal omnivorous and

Atlanta life are among the largest. Their total assets and policies are in the multi millions. The greatest service of these major corporations is not just providing financial security to the families of the seized but rather to the living. Parents can borrow money to finance their children's education. Colleges can borrow money to construct buildings scholarships are awarded annually on a national level. The insurance companies employ hundreds of thousands. By the 1970s it was these national underwriters who purchased some of the Louisiana's insurance companies at a handsome profit. The Great Depression took its toll want a few others. The purple shield of Louisiana Purchase 13 and merge them into a state wide network that is growing and thriving because it has black doctors should not be overlooked that Julio Butler Dr. Arnie Sheree and Dr. Seuss say Hi Dale we're pioneers in the field of health insurance and for pennies a day. Health insurance

premiums for patients could receive limited medical care medicine and often hospitalization as medical doctors and insurance company owners. They helped raise the standards of living for many people and set an example for the rest of the nation that it could be done on a sound financial business basis. These men and other pioneers set their goals and pursued their dreams they followed their North Star. And.