Biography:

Entrepreneur. Born– July 4, 1892, Demopolis. Parents–Tom and Rosa Gaston.  Married– Creola Smith Gaston. Children– One. Education– Study at Tuggle Institute, a private school for African-American students in Birmingham. Served in U.S.Army, WWI.  Laborer at Tennessee Coal, Iron & Steel Co.; in 1923 organized, with L.A. Smith,  a burial society which grew into a Forty-million-dollar business empire including an insurance company and other enterprises including a chain of funeral homes, a business college, City Federal Savings and Loan Association; and Gaston Enterprises, a corporation including a motel, cemetery, realty and investment company, mortuary, and other businesses. In 1953 established the A.G. Gaston Spelling Bee for elementary school students; by 1965 every school in Birmingham was participating. Supported many philanthropic enterprises and though non-confrontational himself gave financial support to Civil Rights leaders in the state.  Honorary degrees from six institutions; sixty awards, and citations and honors from presidents Truman, Johnson, and Nixon. Named “Entrepreneur of the Century” by Black Enterprise magazine, 1992.  Died January 19, 1996.

Source:

Ebony Success Library, Vol. 2; Who’s Who among Black Americans, 1980-1981; Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Publication(s):

Green Power; the Successful Way of A.G. Gaston. Birmingham, Ala.; Southern University Press, 1968.