National Insurance Association records

The National Insurance Association (NIA) was established as the National Negro Insurance Association in Durham, North Carolina, in 1921. Charles Clinton Spaulding, President of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, the nation’s largest African American business, was its inaugural president. The NIA was recognized as the nation’s most effective economic organization for most of the twentieth century, committed to racial uplift and a broad economic and social agenda. It grew to as many as 65 members by the end of World War II. Activities included monthly training institutes and a bi-monthly trade publication The Pilot. This comprehensive collection includes administrative records, correspondence, annual reports, photographs, and a complete run of The Pilot.