Business and CommerceBanking |
What banks were the first created and run by African Americans? |
In 1888 the True Reformers Bank of Richmond, Virginia, and the Capital Savings Bank of Washington, D.C., became the first black-created and black-run banks. The True Reformers Bank, or the Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain, United Order of True Reformers, was chartered on March 2 and opened for business on April 3. The Capital Savings Bank was organized on October 17, and it was the first black bank to have no fraternal connections.
The home of Maggie L. Walker in Richmond, Virginia, is an historic site. She founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, which survived the Great Depression and still exists today.