Charles Clinton Spaulding was born in Columbus County, North Carolina, on August 1, 1874. Spaulding's prolific career with North Carolina Mutual—a Black-owned, Durham-based company that focused its business on meeting the insurance needs of Black citizens—is well documented. Spaulding leveraged his status as one of Durham's leading businessmen and pillar of the city's Black Wall Street to support innumerable philanthropic causes, particularly in the realm of education.