Black Titan: A. G. Gaston

Authors Carol Jenkins and Elizabeth Hines talked about their book, Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire, published by One World/Strivers Row. Ms. Jenkins and Ms. Hines are Gaston’s niece and grandniece, respectively. The book is a biography of Arthur George Gaston. He was born in a log cabin built by his grandparents, who were freed slaves. Mr. Gaston served in the first all-black regiment during World War I. When he returned to his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, after the war, he went to work in a coal mine, where he began selling lunches to fellow workers. The profits from this venture helped him found a bank, which in turn provided him the seed funds to build a number of businesses to provide services often denied African-Americans during the years of segregation, including funeral parlors, motels, and insurance companies. When he died in 1996 at the age of 103, Mr. Gaston was worth over $130 million. close