Aaron McDuffie Moore

Ambitious beyond farming, Moore enrolled in 1885 in the newly established Shaw University, a historically black college in Raleigh, intending to become a professor.[2] But, encouraged by his teachers who saw his promise,[4] Moore entered the University's Leonard Medical School. Completing the prescribed 4 years of medical education in 3 years, Aaron Moore came before the Medical Examiners of the State of North Carolina in 1888. He passed the examinations and ranked second among the 46 candidates,[4][5] 30 of whom were white.[2] Having been certified as a Doctor of Medicine, Dr. Moore decided to practice in Durham, where he was the city's first Black medical doctor.[6][7][8]

In 1889, Moore married Cottie S. Dancy, niece of John C. Dancy, a leading African-American Republican in North Carolina.[2][9] They had a family together.

Moore became interested in politics and was nominated for the office of coroner of Durham County in 1888.[10] However, his campaign was met with much resistance from the white community, as shown by coverage in the Durham Recorder:[11] "White men of Durham, those who have any respect for the Anglo-Saxon race, will you fail your duty on the 6th of November? Will you allow Negro rule or a white man's government?"

Moore was in a campaign marked by racial discrimination, as were many in those years. Euro-Americans were still trying to maintain dominance; by the end of the century while in control of the state legislature, they passed a constitution that essentially disfranchised blacks, a situation that persisted until federal legislation of the mid-1960s to enforce constitutional rights for minorities. Dismayed by the antagonism, Moore withdrew from the campaign and settled for supporting candidates who served the Durham community's interest.[12]

In 1895 Moore began to invest in new black-owned businesses, to enable the community to develop its own skilled educated class and provide jobs for them.[2][3] The Durham Drug Company was the first of his many ventures.[3] The pharmacy gave young African-American pharmacists an opportunity to practice[2] and served Durham's African-American community with dignity and excellence. While the pharmacy never made much of a profit, earning profits was not Moore's chief goal.[3] Instead, he made his priority the provision of affordable drugs to the Negro community. He believed that the "Negro business movement" was a means to achieve racial self-fulfillment. He became involved in numerous other black business ventures in Durham following this maiden enterprise.[4] Through this work, Moore established strong relationships with significant figures such as John Merrick, with whom he would later found the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company.[3]

In October 1898, Moore, John Merrick and six other African-American men gathered in Moore's office to organize an insurance association. They were inspired by similar associations organized by African-Americans in Richmond, Virginia, in 1893 and 1894. During the meeting, each man pledged $50 to the association. They agreed to draw up a charter for the business, to be "presented as a bill before the State Assembly" in January 1899.[4] With the charter approved, North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association opened for business on April 1, 1899.[4] Moore served as its treasurer and medical director,[5] albeit without salary or remuneration. In addition, Moore agreed to rent out a part of his office to the association for $2 a month, a sign of his commitment to the Black community served by the association.[4]

By 1900, the association was in a precarious financial position as claims increased. In response, Moore and John Merrick used personal funds to meet the company's obligations. The other incorporators were unwilling to fund the deficit and, by July 1900, withdrew from the company.[4] Moore understood that African Americans needed insurance services.[5][9] He also believed strongly that North Carolina Mutual was accountable to the Negro community, and that "to desert their policy holders was to discredit their people". Moore and Merrick bought the shares of withdrawing members. For African-American businessmen like Moore, the purpose of business enterprises extended beyond profit; more importantly, it was a means to improve the conditions of the African-American community.[3][4]

Moore assumed the vacated position of secretary while his nephew, C. C. Spaulding, promoted the sale of insurance policies.[2] The partnership between Moore, Spaulding and Merrick as President transformed North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association into a strong enterprise. In 1919, the association was renamed North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company.[5] When Merrick died that year, Moore assumed presidency of North Carolina Mutual until his death in 1923. As President, Moore was insistent that the Company stayed true to the purpose of its founding:

There was a larger truth… if the Company cannot live on truth, then let her go.[13]

Dr. Aaron Moore rooted North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in its "commitment to service", bringing much needed insurance services to the African American community in Durham.[4] The access to reliable insurance services ensured that individuals could afford necessary treatment and healthcare services in times of need.

Through North Carolina Mutual, Moore also contributed to economic prosperity of the black community in Durham. Inspired by his success, other African-American leaders began to enter business, founding the Mechanics and Farmers Bank in 1907 and Mutual Community Savings Bank in 1921. As black business continued to thrive in tandem with North Carolina Mutual, a "robust business district in downtown Durham" was developed, becoming what became known as the Black Wall Street.[14] The Black business movement contributed significantly to Durham's race relations; while there was interracial friction in other cities, Durham's Euro-Americans tolerated and some supported its Black businessmen, as their progress benefited the city as a whole.[15] Moore was thus a key figure who not only stimulated growth in Durham, but also brought social progress to the city.

With his personal experience in a rural school, Moore worked to improve these, which were typically underfunded by white local and state school authorities in the segregated system. Moore wrote about the need to improve rural schools in an April 26, 1915, letter to a state official:[23]

These people in the main have not had enough schooling either to fit them for the demands of urban life or to make them content in the rural districts. The consequence is that a large percentage of them recruit the criminal class in the towns or remain in the rural districts as discouraged and nonproductive constituents... This failure on the part of the rural schools has become more apparent in recent years than before. In a rough way, the lessening of interest in the rural school and its problems has been coincidental with the disfranchisement of the colored voter… At present the appropriations by the Durham County Board average twice as much for each white child enrolled as for each colored child. Doubtless, the same discrimination is a common practice in all of the counties of the state in a greater or less degree.

From 1914 until his death in 1923, Moore concentrated on improving rural schools for African-American children. He hired George W. Davis,[3] North Carolina's first rural school inspector, at his own expense. Moore wanted to document the condition of the poor rural schools.[4] Moore raised money for the schools through the Rosenwald Fund, established by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald of Chicago to aid the construction of rural schools, especially for African-American children, as their schools were underfunded. The Fund's contributions were based on matching monies raised by local communities, and also required a commitment by white-run school boards. African-American parents were so eager for schools that they often taxed themselves. In order to stimulate school involvement, he proposed that schools must "put down dollar for dollar for its own improvements".[24] Following Moore's success, the state of North Carolina took over his work while the North Carolina Teachers' Association made him the Secretary-Treasurer of its Rural School Extension Department, a position he served until 1922.[2]