On October 20th 1898, North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company was formed. The company's founding allowed African Americans to address a critical need--insurance. Denied, in large part, by white companies due to segregation and the false belief that African American mortality rates were too high, Black insurers like North Carolina Mutual filled the void. Inspired by the business savvy of Washington Duke, two Black Durham businessmen John Merrick and Aaron McDuffie took the lead in this enterprise. The business emerged from earlier businesses in the Black community. Merrick was a barber and with the help of four partners, he purchased the Royal Knights of King David, a fraternal and mutual aid society. The society was a semi-fraternal organization and benefical society for health and life insurance. This clued Merrick into the uses and importance of insurance. This background allowed Merrick to devise the industrial premium as the primary life insurance product. It was collected weekly and insured the recipient for the following week. For much of the 20th century, North Carolina Mutual was the largest company run by African Americans. The existence and success of the company contributed to the success of Durham's Black community and it became known as the Black Wall Street. The company enjoyed great success until it encountered financial difficulties in 2019 and was liquidated in 2022.
