Jesse Hill
Encyclopedia
Jesse Hill Jr. is one of Atlanta's most prominent African American civil rights
leaders, and was the president and chief executive officer of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company from 1973 to 1992. The first African American to be elected president of a chamber of commerce in a major city and a member of the board of directors for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Hill has been active in the civic and business communities of the city for more than five decades.
, Missouri, to Nancy Dennis Martin and Jesse Hill, he attended public schools in St. Louis and graduated from Lincoln University in St. Louis with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics in 1947. He received his MBA from the University of Michigan
in 1949.
From the beginning, Hill's professional and civil rights activities were closely intertwined. His career in business began in 1949 when he moved to Atlanta, the center of African American entrepreneurship in the United States during the mid-twentieth century. He joined the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of the country's largest and most successful black-owned businesses, as assistant actuary; he was only the second African American actuary in the country. When he first moved to the city, Hill lived at the Butler Street YMCA in Atlanta, the headquarters of the city's black leadership during the period. He also volunteered for both the Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP).
, Atlanta Life's founder. During Hill's tenure as chief executive, Atlanta Life experienced its most impressive period of growth since its founding, and its total assets, revenues, profits, and shareholder value all surpassed previous levels.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Hill used his position as a leader in Atlanta's black business community to promote civil rights in Georgia and Alabama. In 1960 Hill, along with other young black leaders of the Atlanta Committee for Cooperative Action, including Grace Towns Hamilton and Whitney Young, produced a survey of Atlanta's black population entitled "A Second Look: The Negro Citizen in Atlanta." This document challenged the predominant belief in Atlanta's white community that the city was a shining beacon for racial harmony in the South, "the City Too Busy to Hate." As a member of the NAACP's education committee, Hill began recruiting black students to challenge segregation in Georgia's colleges and universities. He met with students Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter to discuss plans to desegregate Georgia State College (later Georgia State University
). At Holmes's request, however, the plans were modified and efforts were focused instead at the University of Georgia
(UGA) in Athens
. Holmes and Hunter were ultimately the first two African American students admitted to UGA.
Hill's company was also involved in progressive activities to help the black community across the South. During the 1950s and 1960s, Hill raised money from employees at Atlanta Life and donated the money to Martin Luther King Jr.'s efforts to promote civil rights. Hill also encouraged employees to donate their time in support of the civil rights cause. Atlanta Life's Montgomery office even employed Rosa Parks as a secretary during the Montgomery bus boycott, which she sparked.
Hill and Atlanta Life Insurance Company are also given credit for increasing African American access to affordable home-mortgage financing in Georgia, Alabama, Texas, and Florida. Furthermore, Hill organized successful voter registration drives in Atlanta throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. His organizational efforts helped register approximately 50,000 new African American voters in Atlanta.
In 1977 Hill became the chairman of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
, where he continued to work on bridge building between the African American and white communities. Hill ran political campaigns for Maynard Jackson
, who became the first black mayor of Atlanta, as well as for congressman and later United Nations ambassador Andrew Young
.
Throughout a long, successful business career, Hill also served on the boards of directors for eight major U.S. corporations, including Knight Ridder
, Delta Air Lines
, National Services Industries, and SunTrust, and was a founding director of MARTA
, Atlanta's public transportation system. He has also served as the chairman of the board of directors for the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta.
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
leaders, and was the president and chief executive officer of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company from 1973 to 1992. The first African American to be elected president of a chamber of commerce in a major city and a member of the board of directors for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Hill has been active in the civic and business communities of the city for more than five decades.
Early life, education, and career
Born in 1927 in St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri, to Nancy Dennis Martin and Jesse Hill, he attended public schools in St. Louis and graduated from Lincoln University in St. Louis with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics in 1947. He received his MBA from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in 1949.
From the beginning, Hill's professional and civil rights activities were closely intertwined. His career in business began in 1949 when he moved to Atlanta, the center of African American entrepreneurship in the United States during the mid-twentieth century. He joined the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of the country's largest and most successful black-owned businesses, as assistant actuary; he was only the second African American actuary in the country. When he first moved to the city, Hill lived at the Butler Street YMCA in Atlanta, the headquarters of the city's black leadership during the period. He also volunteered for both the Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
(NAACP).
Success in business and civic activities
During his first two decades with Atlanta Life, Hill became vice president and the chief actuary of the company. In 1973 he was elected president and chief executive officer, becoming the company's third president and the first not to be a family member of Alonzo HerndonAlonzo Herndon
Alonzo Franklin Herndon was an African American businessman and the founder and president of the Atlanta Mutual Life Insurance Company. Born into slavery, he became Atlanta's first black millionaire. His home, Herndon Home, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark...
, Atlanta Life's founder. During Hill's tenure as chief executive, Atlanta Life experienced its most impressive period of growth since its founding, and its total assets, revenues, profits, and shareholder value all surpassed previous levels.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Hill used his position as a leader in Atlanta's black business community to promote civil rights in Georgia and Alabama. In 1960 Hill, along with other young black leaders of the Atlanta Committee for Cooperative Action, including Grace Towns Hamilton and Whitney Young, produced a survey of Atlanta's black population entitled "A Second Look: The Negro Citizen in Atlanta." This document challenged the predominant belief in Atlanta's white community that the city was a shining beacon for racial harmony in the South, "the City Too Busy to Hate." As a member of the NAACP's education committee, Hill began recruiting black students to challenge segregation in Georgia's colleges and universities. He met with students Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter to discuss plans to desegregate Georgia State College (later Georgia State University
Georgia State University
Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...
). At Holmes's request, however, the plans were modified and efforts were focused instead at the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
(UGA) in Athens
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
. Holmes and Hunter were ultimately the first two African American students admitted to UGA.
Hill's company was also involved in progressive activities to help the black community across the South. During the 1950s and 1960s, Hill raised money from employees at Atlanta Life and donated the money to Martin Luther King Jr.'s efforts to promote civil rights. Hill also encouraged employees to donate their time in support of the civil rights cause. Atlanta Life's Montgomery office even employed Rosa Parks as a secretary during the Montgomery bus boycott, which she sparked.
Hill and Atlanta Life Insurance Company are also given credit for increasing African American access to affordable home-mortgage financing in Georgia, Alabama, Texas, and Florida. Furthermore, Hill organized successful voter registration drives in Atlanta throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. His organizational efforts helped register approximately 50,000 new African American voters in Atlanta.
In 1977 Hill became the chairman of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce is the chamber of commerce for the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was founded in 1859....
, where he continued to work on bridge building between the African American and white communities. Hill ran political campaigns for Maynard Jackson
Maynard Jackson
Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. was an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and the first African American mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. He served three terms, two consecutive terms from 1974 until 1982 and a third term from 1990 to 1994...
, who became the first black mayor of Atlanta, as well as for congressman and later United Nations ambassador Andrew Young
Andrew Young
Andrew Jackson Young is an American politician, diplomat, activist and pastor from Georgia. He has served as Mayor of Atlanta, a Congressman from the 5th district, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations...
.
Retirement from public life
Hill retired from Atlanta Life in 1995. He was instrumental in bringing the 1996 Olympic Games to Atlanta. During the 1990s, Hill received an honorary doctor of laws degree from his alma mater, the University of Michigan, and was involved in entrepreneurial activities, including the development of wireless communications in Nigeria. In 2001 Butler Street in Atlanta was renamed in Hill's honor. He and his wife, Azira, have two children and several grandchildren.Throughout a long, successful business career, Hill also served on the boards of directors for eight major U.S. corporations, including Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by The McClatchy Company on June 27, 2006, it was the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers sold.- History :The corporate ancestors of...
, Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
, National Services Industries, and SunTrust, and was a founding director of MARTA
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the ninth-largest in the United States. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting...
, Atlanta's public transportation system. He has also served as the chairman of the board of directors for the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta.
Further reading
- Alexa Benson Henderson, A Twentieth Century Black Enterprise: The Atlanta Life Insurance Company, 1905–1975 (Ph.d. diss., Georgia State University, 1975).
- William Schemmel, "Profile: Jesse Hill Jr.," Atlanta Magazine, January 1971.