Last week, I told you all about the history of Morris Brown College. Make sure you check that out here if you haven’t already. This week I wanted to feature the coolest views specifically of when I was climbing around Alonzo Herndon Stadium. So I thought I would tell you a little about it and the man after which it’s named!
Ah, and a reminder, every picture featured here is available for prints! Check out the store to see all the merchandise we have available!
The stadium itself is was built in 1948. It was used by the Morris Brown College Wolverines, The Atlanta Beat (women’s soccer team), and the 1996 Olympics! It was also played the part of the demolished Fairfield Stadium during the filming of We Are Marshall, released 2006. Once a pride of Morris Brown College, it now sits abandoned, trashed, and graffitied.
The man for which the stadium was named had a little more triumphant story. Alonzo Herndon was born a slave in 1858. He was the son of a white slaver and Sophenie, an enslaved woman. He and his family were emancipated after the Civil War. They were cast out by their former enslavers and left homeless with nothing.
The Herndon family became sharecroppers, as many emancipated people were forced to do, and tried to live a better life. Alonzo’s entrepreneurial spirit showed as he worked his hands to the bone to provide for his family and save to leave his small hometown for a better life.
In 1878, he did just that. He moved from Social Circle to Senoia where he worked on farms and learned the trade of barbering. From Senoia, he migrated to Jonesboro, and this is where he started his first shop.
After a few years of thriving business, he eventually settled in Atlanta in early 1883. He began working as a barber in a shop on Marietta Street. 6 months later, he was a partner of the shop. By 1904, he owned 3 shops in Atlanta. His all-Black staff were widely known as the best barbers in the South. He also owned many houses, a large block of commercial property on Auburn Ave, and real estate in Florida as well.
As he grew his fortune, he bought a failing mutual aid association and turned the business around. He helped the company achieve legal reserve status, joined only by 4 other Black insurance companies contemporarily, and then expanded to 6 new states. He made it a point to save Black businesses where possible. He would merge businesses into Atlanta Life to conserve confidence in Black businesses.
He grew his fortune and his influence. He was even among the 29 men who attended the founding meeting of Black leaders to organize the Niagara Movement, called by W. E. B. Du Bois. He was also very involved in his local community in Atlanta, and he donated support and resources to the YMCA, Atlanta University, orphanages, and the First Congregational Church.
Alonzo Herndon died on July 21, 1927. He was born into slavery. He was thrown into poverty. He was illiterate. He was Black in the South, and he created an empire of wealth and a business that still runs to this day. He was even one of this country’s first Black millionaires. Now that’s a wild life!
As always, all of these photos of Alonzo Herndon Stadium are available for prints and merchandise. Check it all out in the store.
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