James Horace Sellers (1885-1981) founded his funeral business in Newnan, Georgia, in 1920.1 His brother, Samuel Garrett Sellers (1896-1961), joined him soon thereafter, making it the Sellers Brothers Funeral Home. They expanded their business into Carrollton, Fairburn and Atlanta, serving black families with final arrangements.1
It was a family that was serving these families. James’ brother John William and Walter joined the family business along with many of their children, notably including Samuel’s daughter, Juanita Sellers Stone, who took on the management of the company in the late 1980s. She kept the company current with a full range of services, including pre-planning and follow-up services. Her obituary notes that “Sellers Brothers was probably the first African American funeral home to offer grief counseling for families.”
Community
Their reach into the community went far beyond funeral services. The Gate City Motorcycle club was meeting in their recently-opened facility on Hunter Street (now MLK Jr Blvd) in 1939. The Harlem Socialites and The Gardenia Crochet Club also showcased talent in musical programs held in the Sellers Brothers building.4 5
Sellers Brothers was a catalyst for other successes. A young Michael Lee Smith hung around the funeral home, learned the trade, and opened his own Sellers-Smith Funeral Home in 1977.2
The End
The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2006 and their last funeral was in 2007. In 2009, news reports covered the discovery of unclaimed cremains from the funeral home, a problem that continues to be an issue for funeral homes. In 2011, Juanita stepped in to help a family who had prepaid for a funeral many years before the company went out of business.3
Despite these incidents at the end of the business, they can be proud of a long history of serving the African American communities with compassionate funeral care.