Record Group 6: Herman Hipp Papers, 1938 - 1985
Scope and Content Note
The Herman Hipp Papers document Hipp's activities as a business executive and civic leader. The bulk of this collection covers the years from 1950 to 1982. The collection is arranged in series as follows:
1. The Broadcasting Company of the South 1957-1964
2. Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation 1965-1982
3. Liberty Life Insurance Company 1943-1982
4. Selico Incorporated 1965-1968
5. The Southeastern Life Insurance Company 1964-1968
6. The Surety Life Insurance Company 1956-1961
7. Surety Investment Company 1963-1968
8. Premium Acceptance Corporation 1965-1968
9. The Surety Indemnity Company 1963-1965
10. The Surety Insurance Company 1963-1965
11. Surety Realty Corporation 1964-1967
12. Special Services Corporation 1958-1970
13. Life Insurance Agency Management Association 1950-1982
14. The Liberty Corporation 1968-1982
15. Atlas Life Insurance Company 1979-1982
16. Greater Arizona Savings and Loan Association 1973-1982
17. Liberty Investors Benefit Insurance Company 1967-1971
18. United Fidelity Life Insurance Company 1978-1982
19. Personal Series 1938-1985
20. Tres and Company 1958-1973
Herman Hipp's first love as an executive was Liberty Life Insurance Company. The sheer size of the Liberty Life series reflects its importance to this collection. To insiders at Liberty Life Hipp was known as "Mr. Sales Manager." From 1943 until 1968 his primary responsibility was directing the increasingly complex sales operations of the company. This series records the dramatic growth of Liberty Life and reveals Herman Hipp's executive traits of persistence and attention to detail.
After Hipp's elevation to the presidency of Liberty life in 1969 and subsequently as a top echelon executive of The Liberty Corporation, his files become more general and policy-oriented. As a board member of the various subsidiary companies of Liberty Life and The Liberty Corporation, e.g., Cosmos Broadcasting and United Fidelity Life Insurance Company, this policy orientation is particularly apparent.
The five different Surety Series present a potentially confusing situation to the researcher, as the word "Surety" was used as a catch-all to name Hipp family controlled satellite companies. Doyle Boggs' The Liberty Spirit: History of The Liberty Corporation (1986) deals with the origins of Surety (see especially p. 41). A separate reference file entitled "Surety" exists in The Liberty Corporation Archives.
The relatively large Personal Series details Herman Hipp's private life. As an ardent alumnus of Furman University, Hipp contributed both his time and resources to Furman's Growth. The Furman files in this series provide an inside glimpse of fund raising and long-range planning at the Greenville school. The Personal Series also documents Herman Hipp's involvement with the Greenville Chamber of Commerce and the Greenville Hospital System. The general correspondence files in this series project Hipp's courtesy and thoughtfulness.
Because Herman Hipp did not totally segment his business and personal activities, there exists some overlapping in the collection. Specifically, Hipp's correspondence with insurance executives from competing companies is chiefly personal in nature and is therefore located in the Personal Series.
Finally, the researcher should realize that a gap exists in the collection from the years 1974 to 1979. These files could have been destroyed or they may yet be recovered in the future. If found they will likely be treated as a separate sub-record group.
Dates
- 1938 - 1985
Biographical Note
Herman Neel Hipp was born November 2, 1913, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the son of W. Frank and Eunice Halfacre Hipp. Following his family's move to Greenville, he attended public schools in that city and graduated from Furman University in 1935 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and business administration. As a teenager, Hipp worked in the printing shop of the family business, The Liberty Life Insurance Company, and he joined the management team of that organization upon finishing college.
For almost fifty years Herman Hipp helped direct the rise of a local insurance company to national stature as a diversified Fortune 500 corporation. Appointed assistant secretary of The Liberty Life in 1936, he served successively as vice president (1943-1954), agency vice president (1954-1961), senior vice president (1961-1968), executive vice president (1968-1969), president (1969-1977), and chairman (1977-1978). Hipp was a member of Liberty Life's board of directors from 1943; his duties at The Liberty Corporation included the positions of executive vice president (1967-1977), president (1977-1978), and vice chairman (1979-1984). Hipp's business activities also involved service on the boards of directors of several subsidiaries and satellite companies, among them Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation, Atlas Life Insurance Company, and United Fidelity Life Insurance Company. He was also a member of the Greenville board for the South Carolina National Bank, a member of the executive committee of the Life Insurers Conference and a director of the Life Underwriters Training Council.
Herman Hipp's prominence as an executive thrust him into the forefront of civic affairs in Greenville. He was on the board of directors of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, the board of associates of Converse College, and served as a trustee of The Greenville Hospital System. As a long-standing member of Furman University's Advisory Council, Hipp helped create long-range policy for that institution.
On November 25, 1950 Hipp married Jane Gage Fishburne of Walterboro, South Carolina. They had five children: Herman Neel Hipp, Jr., Mary Ladson Hipp Haddow, William Franklin Hipp, Edward Fishburne Hipp, and Jane Gage Hipp. After a lengthy battle with cancer, Herman Hipp died on November 30, 1984.
Extent
54 Cubic Feet (including photographs and oversize material)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Introduction
The Herman Hipp Papers consist of correspondence, reports, memoranda, and newspaper clippings relating to Hipp's duties with Liberty Life Insurance Company, The Liberty Corporation, and various subsidiary companies. Described as "an insurance man's insurance man," Hipp was notably adept at sales management, and his files pertaining to Liberty Life's Agency Division reveal his meticulous and personal management style. The collection also illuminates Herman Hipp's work as a civic leader and philanthropist. Record Group 6 holds research potential in the areas of twentieth century South Carolina economic history, the history of Greenville and Greenville County, and the history of Furman University. The collection is comprised of material from accessions 86-3 and other material, which was never accessioned. The Herman Hipp Papers were processed in 1986-1987 by Joey Keaton and Bryan F. McKown. They were accessioned by Special Collections as accessions 94-54 and 99-104, and were reboxed in 1999 by Kristina Cathcart. This register was prepared by Bryan F. McKown in 1987 and revised by James Cross in 2000.
Creator
- From the Collection: Liberty Corporation (other_unmapped, Organization)
Repository Details
Part of the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository