Arthur George Gaston was an African-American businessman who established a number of businesses in Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

 and who played a significant role in the struggle to integrate Birmingham in 1963.
Born in a log cabin in Demopolis, Alabama

Demopolis, Alabama

Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, Alabama, United States. The population was 7,483 at the time of the 2010 United States Census....

, to Tom and Rosa McDonald Gaston, but he grew up in his grandparents home, Joe and Idella Gaston. His education stopped at a 9th grade level. He moved to Birmingham in 1905 with the Loveman

Loveman's of Alabama

Loveman's of Alabama was a Birmingham, Alabama-based chain of department stores with locations across Alabama. It adopted this name to distinguish it from Loveman's department stores operating in Chattanooga, Tennessee and in Nashville, Tennessee.-History :...

 family, who employed his mother as a cook.