Jesse Hill Jr.

Jesse Hill, Jr. (May 30, 1926 – December 17, 2012)^[1] was an American civil rights leader, business executive, and actuary.

Hill was CEO of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. He was also a confidant of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is a black pioneer and activist who pushed several civil rights initiatives.

Hill was the first black president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the first black member of the Georgia Board of Regents, and the first black member of the Board of Directors for Rich's Department Store.^[2]

He chaired the All-Citizens Registration Committee and helped to desegregate the Atlanta Public School system. He was one of the leading figures to desegregate the University System of Georgia.

Hill created the black newspaper The Atlanta Inquirer which covered racial tensions, sit-ins, and protests.

Governor Jimmy Carter selected Hill to chair the State Board of Regents in 1973. Following Carter's election as President, he chose Hill to chair the Minority Business Resource Center, a group created by Congress.

A 1949 graduate of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, in 1977 Hill became the first Black man to preside over the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

During Hill's presidency, the Atlanta Life Insurance Company became the largest black-owned life insurance company in the nation.^[3]

In 2008 he was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame.^[2]

He died on December 17, 2012. He was 86 years old.

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