Norman Oliver Houston (October 16, 1893 – October 20, 1981) was co-founder and president of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, which at one time was the largest Black-owned business west of the Mississippi.
Houston was born to Oliver J. Houston and Lillian Jackson (Houston) (Harris) in San Jose on October 16, 1893. By the 1900 census, the family was living on 9th Street near Campbell Street in West Oakland, and Oliver was a Pullman Porter. Lillie divorced Oliver in December 1906; the 1907 directory lists them living apart in West Oakland.
Lillie married James E. Harris on April 28, 1908, a few weeks after her divorce was finalized. The 1908 directory lists them at 1306 Brandon, Fruitvale (now 34th Avenue, and part of Oakland since 1909.) The 1910 census lists them living on Tevis Street (now 35th Avenue, not the present-day Tevis) just below East 14th Street, and notes that James was a waiter for the Southern Pacific Railroad. By the 1913 directory, James was the assistant steward for the Moose Club, and the family was living at 3529 East 12th Street.
In 1909, Norman Houston graduated from Dewey Public School, a few blocks from their home.
Houston then graduated from the predecessor of Oakland Tech, the Manual Training and Commercial High School. In 1912, Houston played baseball for the Oakland Giants team in Oakland. He studied business administration at UC Berkeley, but was drafted into the U.S. Army during WWI. He served as the regimental personnel adjutant with the 32nd Division. 1
Following his service, he briefly played some more baseball (Jimmy Claxton was one of his teammates), and returned to his studies at Berkeley. The 1920 census lists him as living with Lillian and James at 3529 East 12th Street, and working as a filing clerk in insurance. He then went to work in insurance in Los Angeles.
[ The Wikipedia entry picks up the story from there ... 1 ]
Links and References
- Norman O. Houston Wikipedia
- Norman O. Houston: Lost and Found Shadow Ball Express
