By Garry Blanson
“If the misery of our poor be caused not by the Laws of Nature, but by our Government Institutions, then great is our sin!” -unknown
When discussing the former Black-Owned Insurance Companies in Monroe, Louisiana, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the “HISTORIC MILLER-ROY BUILDING” that was built here in Monroe at 1001 Desiard Street in 1929, “as a business hub for Black-Owned Businesses.” You see, several of the Black-Owned Insurance Companies had their offices within the Miller-Roy Building. As a matter of fact, many of the Black-Owned Businesses in Monroe at that time, began in that Building.
Additionally, before the Stock Market Crash in 1929, several Black-Owned Insurance Companies were becoming as large as some of the White-Owned Insurance Companies in Monroe. Furthermore, it was reported and recorded that some of the Black-Owned Insurance Companies in Monroe contributed part of the first $1,000 dollars to start the “Louisiana Chapter of The National Urban League when it was first organized, back in 1938.” I wished that I could have found physical records of some of the former Black-Owned Insurance Companies in Monroe, but so far I haven’t been able to find any of them.
Never-the-less, I was able to come up with a list of a few of them. Below is the list of the ones that I was able to verify : 1. Acme Insurance Company, that was owned by William & Orel Medlock, one of the companies that was merged with Miller Funeral Home; 2. People’s Industrial Life Insurance Company, owned by Abraham Bowie; 3. Unity Industrial Life Insurance Company; 4. Standard Industrial Life Insurance Company; 5. Good Citizens Life Insurance Company; 6. Keystone Life Insurance Company; 7. Supreme Life Insurance Company; 8. Universal Life Insurance Company; 9. Britton’s Insurance Company, that was located near Desiard & Renwick Streets, which was owned by Don Britton; and 10. Miller Funeral Home’s, Reliable Insurance Company, which is still operating in Monroe today!
Before I end this week’s edition of Our Rich Black Heritage, I would like to mention that when Joseph Miller, Jr., of Miller Funeral Home was living, he stated that several of the former Black-Owned Funeral Home Establishments in Monroe were bought out by his father, Joseph H. Miller, Sr., and were merged with Miller Funeral Home.
