“…an insurance company of, by, and for Negros in Kentucky.”

An unidentified group of African-American men and women believed to be standing on the steps of the first district office in Louisville, Kentucky at 38th & Broadway (017PC39.01).

An unidentified group of African-American men, women, and children near, or inside, a parade float promoting Mammoth Life insurance policies for children (017PC39.03).

An unidentified group of American-American men and women with the inscription, "Mammoth Agents in front of Home Office" (017PC39.04).

A pastel portrait of President William H. Wright. The first co-president of Mammoth Life with Henry E. Hall (2017.23.8).

A pastel portrait of President Henry E. Hall. He was the first co-president of Mammoth Life with William H. Wright (2017.23.2).

Historians generally agree that the "Golden Age of Black Business" was in the first half of the twentieth century. After Reconstruction, African-Americans found themselves isolated by de facto and de jure segregation across the United States. Companies like Mammoth Life formed to serve their communities and combat exploitive business practices by white-owned corporations.

Under William H. Wright, and Henry E. Hall, Mammoth Life and Accident Insurance, Co. opened their first Louisville District Office at 38th & Broadway in 1915. By 1917, they outgrew their first building and moved to a three-story office at 422 S. 6th St. and Liberty St. The company then established branch offices in Paducah, Lexington, Hopkinsville, and Bowling Green. Mammoth Life would eventually build a six-story home office at 604-12 W. Walnut St. to accommodate their rapid expansion.

Mammoth Life's original locations were symbolic as well as practical. Formerly called the Old Walnut Street business district, 6th through 13th street in Louisville, Kentucky was a magnet for Black-owned businesses.

Futher Reading:

Aubespin, Mervin, Clay, Kenneth, and Hudson, J. Blaine. Two Centuries of Black Louisville: A Photographic History. Louisville, Kentucky: Butler Book, 2011. 121.

Kleber, John E. “Mammoth Life and Accident Insurance Company.” In The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 2001. 585-586.

Smith, Gerald L., McDaniel, Karen Cotton, and Hardin, John A. "Mammoth Life and Accident Insurance Company." In The Kentucky African American Encylopedia. Lexington, Kentucky: The University of Kentucky Press, 2015. 344-345.