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37-595: In the mid-1920s, when William Nickerson Jr. , an insurance salesman and publisher from Texas , arrived in Los Angeles , he was alarmed to discover that most of the 16,000 blacks living in the city were unable to obtain life insurance. Unable to afford an attorney, Nickerson studied law to determine the state's requirements to form a corporation to accommodate this need. He partnered with fellow insurance salesman Norman O. Houston and businessman George A. Beavers Jr. to secure 500 pre-paid life insurance applications as well as

74-437: A chance encounter would forever change his life. On his way to breakfast, Nickerson passed a well-lit and inviting restaurant. Because of segregation , it was restricted to whites only. Instead, Nickerson was forced to eat in a dimly lit, unsanitary restaurant with poor service that catered to African Americans. He wondered if there were any modern facilities that could be patronized by blacks. His thoughts were interrupted by

111-523: A man who offered Nickerson the opportunity to become an insurance agent. Nickerson accepted the job, which was as an underwriter for the Dallas-based Southern Mutual Benefit Association , an insurance company. After a slow, but steady increase in clients, Nickerson became one of the top agents at the company. However, when Southern Mutual was taken over by American National Insurance of Galveston, Texas , this disrupted

148-457: A modest budget, he began to acquire the artworks of fellow African-American artists including Jacob Lawrence , Charles White , Betye Saar , Elizabeth Catlett , Richmond Barthé , Hale Woodruff , Charles Alston , Varnette P. Honeywood , David Hammons , Romare Bearden , John Biggers , Samella Lewis , Henry Ossawa Tanner and Willie Middlebrook . The collection also included several of Pajaud's own works. At more than 200 works, it became

185-531: A mutual company. This had never been done before. While there was no law specifically authorizing it, there was also no law forbidding it. With the assistance of an actuary named John H. Upton, the California Department of Insurance approved the plan. However, several additional hurdles had to be overcome including a move by the California Legislature to increase the financial requirements for

222-494: A mutual life insurance company. Nickerson met every challenge and on February 24, 1925, the articles of incorporation were filed for the Golden State Guarantee Fund Insurance Company . Starting in a small one-room office at 1435 Central Avenue, the initial officers of Golden State were Nickerson (president), Beavers (vice president) and Houston (secretary/treasurer). Under Nickerson's leadership,

259-489: A set of law books. For several days, Nickerson studied the intricacies of insurance regulations to uncover a law that was sufficiently flexible to accommodate his situation. The resourceful Nickerson found a loophole in the law that would solve his problem. He proposed to the Department of Insurance, that he would issue "certificates of contribution" to his subscribers instead of stock certificates, which were not allowed for

296-592: A south Texas office for Standard Life Insurance Company of Atlanta, Georgia, an ordinary life insurance company, recently organized by Herman Edward Perry . This provided Nickerson with valuable experience in whole life insurance and also demonstrated to him the advantages of operating in more than one state. However, when he presented his associates at American Mutual with a proposal to open offices in Oklahoma and California, they were indecisive. Nickerson added publishing to his growing list of enterprises, when he founded

333-560: A storeroom at 3512 Central Avenue. By the end of its first year the company had established an office in Oakland , California, which sold more than $ 260,000 in policies, and had $ 6,000 in reserves and a surplus of over $ 16,000. Within three years, Golden State Insurance had over 100 employees including sixty agents as well as branches in Pasadena , Bakersfield , San Diego and Fresno. In 1928, using all African American design and labor, they built

370-788: Is in the collections of the Pushkin Museum , the Amistad Research Center , the Las Vegas Art Museum , the California African American Museum, the Hunter Museum and the National Museum of American Art . Pajaud was the adviser for the acquisition of artworks for the black-owned Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company , for whom he had worked since 1957 in design and public relations. In 1965, with

407-744: The Houston Observer newspaper in 1916. Three years later in a partnership with Clifton H. Richardson and H.F. Edwards established the Informer Publishing Company, which published the Houston Informer newspaper. In the wake of the Longview, Texas Riots of 1919 (and perhaps the Tulsa Riots two years later), Nickerson grew concerned about the racial climate in the Southwest. After members of

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444-535: The Ku Klux Klan allegedly burned a cross in front of his home, he finally moved to Los Angeles and established a branch of the American Mutual Benefit Association. While there Nickerson said he needed a "live wire" or someone with local connections to get the new branch off of the ground. That person was Norman O. Houston , a young insurance salesman originally from northern California. Houston

481-516: The $ 15,000 deposit required by California . Houston raised the $ 15,000 and Beavers found 500 blacks that would pay premiums for a company that was yet to be established. On July 23, 1925, they opened as the Golden State Guarantee Fund Insurance Company in a one-room office at 1435 Central Avenue , Los Angeles, with few amenities and $ 17,800 in capital. Within three months the company had outgrown its office and moved to

518-539: The Ivory Coast and Gabon. Works were displayed in the corridors and offices of the company's building on Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles. The collection was auctioned in 2007 when the company went out of business. 124 works were acquired by Los Angeles County. William Nickerson Jr. William Nickerson Jr. (January 26, 1879 – November 14, 1945) was a prominent Los Angeles–based businessman and founder of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company , which at one time

555-544: The Republican ticket of Dewey - Bricker in 1944 . Nickerson died from pneumonia complicated by a heart condition. He was 66 years old. In 1906, Nickerson married the former Bertha B. Benton of Carthage, Texas . There were eight children born to this union, seven of which survived him. After Nickerson's death, his widow served on Golden State Mutual's executive board until 1971. She died in 1973. Eloise Nickerson Ford, his last surviving child, died on August 21, 2010, at

592-581: The age of 89. He was the curator of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Fine Art Collection. William Pajaud's father was a jazz musician, whose main source of income was working at funerals. His mother was a trained pharmacist, but, as an African American woman, found it difficult to find work. Pajaud earned a fine arts degree from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans in 1941. Pajaud moved to Chicago in

629-511: The age of 95. The Nickerson Gardens housing development in Los Angeles is named after him. William Pajaud William Etienne "Bill" Pajaud (August 3, 1925 – June 16, 2015) was an African-American artist, primarily working in watercolor, known for his paintings exploring themes of jazz. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana , and died in Los Angeles, California , on June 16, 2015, at

666-659: The agents at the re-organized company. As a result, Nickerson and several other agents at the firm decided that greater opportunities were to be gained outside of the company. On July 1, 1908, Nickerson left Southern Mutual. Along with J. B. Grisby, Forrest T. Perkins, London Franks, W. H. Parker and C. H. Green, he received a charter from the state of Texas to form the American Mutual Benefit Association . Their offices were located at 409 + 1 ⁄ 2 Milam Street in Houston, Texas. Nickerson served as secretary of

703-575: The civil rights movement. However, in the wake of integration , Golden State Mutual as well as other black-owned businesses began to lose market share and influence. In 1962, when Beavers took on the added role as president of the National Insurance Association , it was apparent that something needed to be done to ensure the continued viability of black-owned businesses. In 1970, Houston's sons, Norman B. Houston and Ivan J. Houston, took over active management of Golden State Mutual. While

740-511: The company continued to succeed, rough financial waters lay ahead. By the 1980s, Golden State Mutual was struggling to maintain profitability. The Golden State Mutual African American Art Collection was sold at auction on 4 October 2007 and dispersed. On September 20, 2009, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner placed Golden State Mutual into conservation after its surplus funds dropped below required minimum levels. This occurred after six consecutive years of net operating losses. As

777-438: The company had 'committed itself to supporting black creativity' since its founding but Pajaud 'moved Golden State to a new level of support for artists'. Employed in 1957, Pajaud worked initially as art director in design for the company, and then ran the public relations department, but as a trained artist had a knowledge of art and connections with many fellow artists. He proposed starting a company collection in 1965 to celebrate

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814-479: The company's fortieth birthday, and with a small budget acquired over 200 works of art over the next twenty or so years, including works by Jacob Lawrence , Charles White , Betye Saar , Elizabeth Catlett , Richmond Barthé , Hale Woodruff , Charles Alston , Varnette P. Honeywood , David Hammons , Romare Bearden , John Biggers , Samella Lewis , Henry Ossawa Tanner and Willie Middlebrook . The collection also included African art such as masks and sculpture from

851-440: The direction of American Mutual. After extensive research in the law, Nickerson decided that industrial or fraternal insurance schemes were not in the best interests of black insurance firms or their policyholders. Instead, Nickerson advocated the establishment of traditional, whole life insurance policies, but the other officers did not share his enthusiasm. While still working in his capacity at American Mutual, Nickerson set up

888-1001: The early 1940s, where he took work as a sign painter and designer. In 1949 he moved to Los Angeles to study graphic design at Chouinard Art Institute . Pajaud was a member of the Society of Graphic Designers, the Los Angeles County Art Association, and the National Watercolor Society, of which he served as president from 1974 to 1975. He was part of the artists' collective Eleven Associated (later Art West Association). This Los Angeles artists' co-op included artists Beulah Woodard , Alice Taylor Gafford and Tyrus Wong . Pajaud's watercolors featured imagery inspired by his childhood in New Orleans and his adult life in Chicago and Los Angeles: full-figured African American women, jazz funerals, street scenes. Pajaud's work

925-498: The end of the 1930s, assets had grown up to $ 437,000 with $ 6 million in policies. In 1938 they set up operations in Illinois and in 1944 they opened a branch in Texas. By the end of World War II assets stood at $ 2 million, surplus funds at $ 750,000, and they had nearly $ 24 million in policies. When the company's founder William Nickerson Jr. died in 1945, Houston became president and Beavers

962-509: The firm expanded throughout California, Texas and Illinois. By the time of his death in 1945, the company, now known as Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company was the seventh largest black insurance firm in the United States and the largest black-owned business west of the Mississippi. The Political Graveyard shows that William Nickerson Jr. was a candidate for presidential elector on

999-400: The firm which prompted Nickerson to consider another career. He took and passed the civil service examination to become a mail carrier. Despite the encouragement of his wife to take advantage of the relative security of civil service, Nickerson instead chose to continue with insurance, which by now had become a passion for him. Unfortunately, a labor dispute developed between management and

1036-483: The fraternal system as their charter stipulated. As a result, Nickerson and the other officers were called before the insurance commissioner. The night before the meeting, Nickerson drafted a formal ritual for policyholders to comply with the requirement that they be a "lodge" or fraternal order. The Department of Insurance ruled in American Mutual's favor on both counts, but the incident caused Nickerson to re-examine

1073-498: The largest U.S. collection of corporate-owned African American art. Pajaud stated that the collection was the thing of which he was proudest in his career. A large proportion of the collection was auctioned in 2007 when the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company went out of business. 124 of the works from the collection were acquired by Los Angeles County after Pajaud put out a plea to 'Take care of

1110-441: The new company. W. B. Cogle served as president, Perkins as vice president, and Franks as treasurer of American Mutual. Their company aggressively sold "fraternal" insurance to Texas blacks and quickly grew to one of the largest black-owned businesses west of the Mississippi. In the wake of American Mutual's success, American National sued them because of the similarity in their names and also because they were not operating under

1147-407: The result, the state ordered that Golden State Mutual's policies be taken over by IA American Life Insurance Company . The selection of IA American Life came as a result of a national bidding process involving more than 40 active life insurers. IA American Life Insurance Company, rated A− (Excellent) by noted insurance rating firm A. M. Best , was the only bidder that satisfied all key components of

Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-453: The road to starting his own insurance company would not be easy. To obtain a charter from the state of California, Nickerson needed to secure a $ 15,000 guarantee fund and obtain applicants for five hundred pre-paid life insurance policies that he could not promise to issue. He consulted an attorney, who said he had the solution to his problem, but for a $ 1,500 fee. Paying the fee was not a viable option, so Nickerson instead invested $ 27 for

1221-557: The selection criteria. This included the ability to assume 100% of the Golden State Mutual policies, so that policyholders would be fully protected under the transaction while the remaining creditors and investors would have a much greater potential to be repaid. The Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company owned a significant collection of artwork by African American artists, acquired and curated by one of their employees, artist William Pajaud . As art historian Kellie Jones states,

1258-508: The two-story Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building at 4261 Central Avenue where the firm occupied the top floor while the main floor was rented to merchants. The company remained profitable throughout the Great Depression in the 1930s. The company began paying out dividends beginning in 1930 and continued to do until it entered into its terminal decline. The name was changed to Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1931, and by

1295-438: Was elevated to board chairman. Under the new leadership, the company continued its expansion. Eventually Golden State Mutual had offices in 14 states with over $ 4 billion in policies. In 1949, Golden State Mutual opened its new headquarters at 1999 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles, which was designed by Paul Williams . As a major institution within the black community , representatives of Golden State Mutual were active in

1332-746: Was made superintendent of agents, who supervised three young men who were recently hired as agents. This included George A. Beavers Jr. , a Georgia-born businessman. Under Nickerson's leadership, the branch prospered. Despite nearly 40,000 African Americans in California at the time, insurance companies regarded them as either uninsurable or extremely high risk. As a result, the few policies that were written for blacks were done so at exorbitant rates. Nickerson shared his outrage over this blatantly racist policy with Houston and Beavers . In November 1924, when American Mutual chose not to renew its contract with Nickerson, he decided to form his own company. However,

1369-804: Was the largest black-owned business west of the Mississippi. Nickerson was born on a farm near Coldspring in San Jacinto County, Texas, on January 26, 1879, the son of William Nickerson and Emma Poole. After graduating from high school, he attended Bishop College in Marshall, Texas , where he studied economics. Later he received a teacher's certificate at Prairie View Industrial and Normal School (later Prairie View A&M University ) in Prairie View, Texas , and subsequently taught public school for four years in San Jacinto County . On April 15, 1905,

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