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Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company records
LSC.1434  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
The Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company was founded on July 23, 1925 in Los Angeles by William Nickerson Jr., George A. Beavers, Jr., and Norman O. Houston. Their mission was to provide dignified employment for African Americans and to provide them with insurance protection. Golden State Mutual operated for eighty-four years and grew to become one of the largest Black-owned companies in the United States. The collection spans from 1909 to 2009 and consists of minutes books, annual reports, corporate history files, ledgers, public relations and advertising files, correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, plans, reports, agreements, manuals, policy specimens, Certificates of Contribution and Advancement, publications, files about the company's historical murals and Afro-American art collection, architectural drawings, awards, memorabilia, and audiovisual materials.
Background
Golden State Mutual founder William Nickerson, Jr. moved to Los Angeles from Texas in 1921 as an official representative of the Texas-based insurance company American Mutual Benefit Association. When he arrived in California, he soon discovered that the state's existing insurance agencies viewed its 40,000 Black citizens as either uninsurables or extraordinary risks. Black residents were only accepted at discriminatory premium rates, or denied insurance coverage altogether.
Extent
175 Linear Feet (156 document boxes, 52 oversize flat boxes, 51 flat boxes, 18 record storage cartons, 11 half document boxes, 9 shoe boxes, 6 tubes, 3 scrapbook/ledger boxes and 1 map folder.)
Restrictions
Copyright to portions of this collection has been assigned to the UCLA Library Special Collections. The library can grant permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to the UCLA Library Special Collections Librarian Special Collections. Credit shall be given as follows: The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
Availability
STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance through our electronic paging system using the "Request items" button.