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Finding Aid for the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co. Records, 1866-1985, bulk 1925-1985
1434
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Table of contents
Title: Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co. Records,
Date (inclusive): 1866-1985, bulk 1925-1985
Collection number: 1434
Creator: Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Extent: 49 boxes (24.5 linear ft.)
3 oversize boxes
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: The Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company was founded in 1925 in Los Angeles by former Texas insurance agent William
Nickerson Junior and two partners. The company specialized in selling insurance to a lower income market often ignored by
major insurers. The collection consists of correspondence, documents, financial records, clippings, magazines, photographs,
slides, company records, employee biographies, reports, reel-to-reel tapes, and memorabilia relating to the Golden State Mutual
Life Insurance Company of Los Angeles.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including
copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds
the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Ivan J. Houston, 1986.
[Identification of item], Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co. records (Collection 1434). Library Special Collections, Charles
E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
The Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company was founded in 1925 on Central Avenue in Los Angeles by former Texas insurance
agent William Nickerson Junior and two partners; in 1945, Norman O. Houston succeeded Nickerson as company president, continuing
the specialization of selling insurance to a lower income market often ignored by major insurers; three years after Ivan J.
Houston became company chairman in 1980, Golden State handled $4 .3 billion worth of insurance, employed 196 salaried workers,
and owned a five-story headquarters building on Western Avenue and Adams Boulevard, with several branch offices across the
country.
Collection consists of correspondence, documents, financial records, clippings, magazines, photographs, slides, company records,
employee biographies, reports, reel-to-reel tapes, and memorabilia relating to the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company
of Los Angeles. The collection also contains files reflecting the company's ongoing interest in Afro-American issues, such
as the Negro Business League, sickle cell anemia, Negro Churches, and Watts Summer Festival. Includes some materials before
the company's founding in 1925: a copy of an 1866 photograph, a
Book of Common Prayer (1890s), and American Mutual letters (1915).
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co.--Archives.
African American business enterprises--California--Los Angeles-- Archival resources.
Insurance companies--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources.
Online resources--local.