Teacher Resources - Industiralists
A. G. Gaston (1892-1996) Millionaire
Arthur G. Gaston was born into poverty in Demopolis, Alabama in 1892.
While he was a boy, Arthur’s father died and he would stay with his grandmother
when his mother had to work as a domestic in Birmingham. His grandmother’s yard
was a favorite playing spot in the neighborhood and Arthur would charge
admission of buttons and pins. With an eighth grade education, he joined the
Army.
Settling in Westfield, Alabama, Gaston worked for the Tennessee Coal Iron
and Steel Company for $3.10 a day. He supplemented his pay by selling
peanuts and loaning money to his coworkers at 25% interest. With
thirty-five dollars, he partnered with his father-in-law to start the Booker T.
Washington Burial Society which grew into the incorporated insurance company.
Two years later he founded the Citizens Federal Savings and Loan Association to
meet the housing needs of blacks. To prepare typists and clerks to work
in his businesses, Gaston organized the Booker T. Washington Business College,
which became a fully accredited business school.
Gaston’s philosophy that, “success is founded on seeing and satisfying the
needs of people,” proved successful in his business career. He became
president and owner of seven different companies in Birmingham. Worth
over twenty million dollars, his businesses include an insurance company, a
chain of fourteen funeral homes, a realty and investment corporation, a chain
of motels, a housing development, a farm, a savings and loan association, and a
cemetery.
Gaston gave generous philanthropic donations back to his community. He
organized the 11,000 member Smith and Gaston Kiddie Club in 1945 and sponsored
the Gaston Statewide Spelling Bee for black students. In 1966, he donated
a building and $350,000 for the newly organized A. G. Gaston Boys’ Club. In
1991, he and his wife donated another $300,000 to purchase a new eight-acre
facility for the Boys’ and Girls’ Club. Gaston said, “If I ever had a
conviction that the Negro wasn’t capable, I would sell out. But I’m
convinced, and I want to convince others.”
Adams, 93;