‘Beacon on Black Wall Street’ NC Mutual Life Insurance Company turns over new leaf, to continue legacy under new stewardship

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — Since 1898, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company has been a “beacon” in what became known as “Black Wall Street” in the heart of Durham.

“The need was for an insurance company at that time for the African-American community,” Vertella Solomon said. “So these six gentlemen got together and decided that they would actually start this insurance company.”

Solomon, who has worked at NC Mutual for more than four decades, reflected on the company’s impact on the community, focusing on life insurance for African Americans.

In 2022, the company went into liquidation, but now, they hope to continue their legacy under new stewardship with EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, which assumed certain policies from the company in 2024.

Some of the employees in Durham who used to work for NC Mutual will be working in a new workspace under a different name, but the sign on the building on West Chapel Hill Street will not change for now, according to officials.

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“As we go forward, that’s part of our stewardship, to bring forward products and to bring forth service and our name and our involvement into the community. So that we can continue on with the great name of EquiTrust Life Insurance Company and carry on that history and that legacy of the former North Carolina Mutual,” EquiTrust Life Insurance Company Chief Administrative Officer Rosemary Parson said.

For Tiffany Griffin, who started her business in 2019, she’s honoring the City of Durham’s Black history through crafted scent products in one of her collections called “Diaspora.”

“In that collection, we honor through scent, Durham, and the History of Black Wall Street,” Griffin said. “So we are very aware of the fact that we are built on the backs of other black entrepreneurs and founders and pioneers in the business space.”

The “Black Wall Street” icon may be ending a more than century-long chapter in Durham, but for Griffin, she remains inspired by all the progress it brought.

“You can’t have a business without business insurance,” Griffin said. “85% of black businesses end within five years. So that statistic is not lost on us. We are very grateful. We take the mission of our business very seriously, and we want to just keep doing what we do best, which is telling stories through scent.”