Norman O. Houston
| Norman O. Houston | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 16, 1893 San Jose, California, USA |
| Died | October 20, 1981 (aged 88) Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | California |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | President of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company |
Norman O. Houston was a prominent Los Angeles-based businessman and president of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, which at one time was the largest black-owned business west of the Mississippi.
Norman Oliver Houston was born on October 16, 1893 in San Jose, California, the son of Oliver Houston, a railroad porter and his wife, the former Lillian L. Jackson. His parents divorced when he was 12 years old. He was raised by his mother and stepfather in Fruitland, California, just outside Oakland. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of California, Berkeley for two years where he studied business administration. He then worked for approximately a year as a clerk for the board of insurance underwriters in California, before returning to UC Berkeley.
However, his studies were interrupted this time by World War I. Houston was drafted by the U. S. Army, where he served as the regimental personnel adjutant with the 32nd Division—the only African American to hold that position in the entire army. Upon his discharge, he once again returned to UC Berkeley to attend summer school, but left the following fall to become an agent with the National Life Insurance Company in Los Angeles. At National Life, Houston sold insurance to black waiters and cooks at the railroad commissary.
In the early 1920s, when William Nickerson, Jr. arrived in Los Angeles to establish a branch of the Texas-based American Mutual Benefit Association, he needed someone with local contacts who had some knowledge of the insurance business. As a result, he hired Houston as his first employee. Houston served as superintendent of agents for the new branch. In 1923, feeling he could make more money at a locally based company than one based out of state, Houston informed Nickerson that he signed a contract with Liberty Building and Loan Association. Houston was replaced by George A. Beavers, Jr., a Georgia-born businessman who was one of the first salesmen hired at the branch.
Louis M. Blodgett was the principal figure behind Liberty, who would later start Angelus Funeral Home in Los Angeles in 1925. Houston worked there as a field manager with the difficult task of selling bonds to economically strapped African Americans. He did not stay long with Liberty in the wake of an appealing business opportunity from his former employer.
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