The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company

Incorporation Document for North Carolina Mutual, 1899.

First Home Office Building in Durham, NC.

Booker T. Washington with N.C. Mutual Executives.

N.C. Mutual Employees in the early 20th century.

In 1898, Mutual competed with dozens of other black owned insurance companies in throughout the US south. But with the "Triumvirate" in charge, Mutual steadily grew during the first half of the 20th century, often absorbing smaller companies. Starting in 1904, Mutual extended operations into South Carolina and over the course of the next 25 years, established branches in seven other states. By 1918, the company boasted a premium income of over $1 million dollars. Three years later, Mutual moved into a six-story building on Durham's Parrish Street, anchoring the black business district known as "Black Wall Street." In 1919, the company officially changed its name to the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company.