Born into slavery in 1858 in Georgia, USA, Alonzo and his family were emancipated in 1865 when he was seven years old. Along with his mother, younger brother, and maternal grandparents, the family was free but destitute. In Social Circle, Georgia, 40 miles east of Atlanta, the family worked as sharecroppers, a profession considered barely a step up from slavery. However, Alonzo showed an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age, taking on work as a laborer and a peddler, selling peanuts, homemade molasses, and axle grease.

In 1878, at age 20, Alonzo left his family, traveling on foot to Senoia, Georgia, southwest of Atlanta, where he worked for a time as a farmhand. With little formal education, Alonzo began learning the barbering trade, and soon relocated to the town of Jonesboro. In 1883, after only six months working in a barber shop, Alonzo entered into a business partnership with shop owner William Doughtery Hutchins. By 1904, Alonzo had three barber shops of his own in Atlanta. His first, the Crystal Palace, was decorated with chandeliers and gold fixtures and considered among the finest barber shops in the region. The all-Black barber staff served an exclusively white clientele, which included judges, politicians, lawyers, and businessmen. With the success of his barbershops, Alonzo’s fortune grew.

In 1905, however, the state of Georgia increased capital requirements for insurance firms, putting many into dire financial straits. Several ministers approached Alonzo about purchasing a failing mutual aid association and turning it into a company that could serve the Black community. Alonzo agreed, and incorporated the business as the Atlanta Mutual Insurance Association. He served as president and chief stockholder, reorganizing the company to offer stocks in 1916. In 1922, the company was reorganized once again as a life insurance company and renamed the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of just five African American-owned insurance companies then to gain legal reserve status.

Alonzo’s life insurance business thrived and expanded into neighboring Florida, as well as Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas. With power and status, Alonzo was recognized as a leader of the African American community and he was acquainted with leading intellectual and political leaders in the country. He attended the founding meeting of the National Negro Business League in 1900, as was among the 29 men who attended the founding meeting of the Niagara Movement in 1905.

Despite Alonzo’s personal success, his wealth and stature could not protect him from the harmful effects of racism. His barber shops were vandalized several times, he was a target of racial injustice, and he witnessed acts of violence against family, friends, and colleagues. Still, Alonzo serves as an example of the entrepreneurial spirit’s indomitability in the face of adversity. A man born into slavery with very little education was able to escape economic destitution and help lead his community into prosperity, leaving a lasting legacy. He was inducted into the Global Business Hall of Fame in 1996.