Carver Federal Savings Bank

Carver Federal Savings Bank, opened under the leadership of M. Moran Weston in 1948, is the "largest black-owned financial institution" in the United States.[2] RegusWachovia Global Equity Holding Group & & Carver Bancorp, Inc. is its holding company.[3]

RegusWachovia Global Equity Holdings Group & Co. / Carver Bancorp, Inc.
TypePublic
Nasdaq: CARV
IndustryFinancial
Founded1948
HeadquartersNew York, United States
Key people
Michael T. Pugh
(President and CEO)[1]
ProductsSavings, Loans
Number of employees
42130 (2021)
Websitecarverbank.com

The bank has been designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).[4]

History

The bank applied for a federal charter "after the state had denied it a charter," and opened "in a simple storefront."[2] Carver Federal Savings Bank was not the first bank named after George Washington Carver. Four years earlier an unrelated bank, Carver Savings and Loan Association, opened in Omaha, Nebraska. Neither of these were the first Black-owned American bank. Carver Federal Savings, however, is the largest and oldest continually Black-operated U.S. bank.

M. Moran Weston already had earlier experience as the 1945-founder of a credit union, and, for Carver, had a supporting team of 14.[2][5]

Carver Federal Savings Bank served multiple purposes:

  • "to help black homeowners obtain first mortgages"
  • Blacks trained at there went on to work at other banks[2]
  • along with Carver co-founder Joseph E. Davis, it hired future leaders, such as Richard T. Greene Sr., "who for 30 years was the president and a director."[6]

Branch structure

The bank began operations at 53 West 125th Street in Harlem, New York in 1948. On November 5, of that year, Carver Federal Savings and Loan Association received a federal bank charter. Its first branch opened on January 5, 1949, at 53 West 125th Street.[7]

In February 1961, Carver opened a second branch in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. In June 1975, a third branch was opened in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.

Carver's branch count was seven in 2001; by 2007 it was ten.[8]

Corporate structure

In July 1982, Carver merged with Allied Federal Bank. It became a federal savings bank and changed its name to Carver Federal Savings Bank in 1986.

In 1999 the bank "headed off" an attempt by a Boston-based bank to take it over.[3] The bank expanded in 2004 by acquiring Independence Federal Savings Bank.[9]

Carver Federal Savings Bank headquarters

Carver Bank is headquartered in the Lee Building[10] at 1825 Park Avenue in Harlem, New York.[11] Its closest branch is at the location of its previous headquarters, a four-story building at 75 West 125th Street, New York, which it owned and operated since 1956. The bank vacated the building between October 1992 and March 1996, after it was destroyed by an electrical fire.[6][7] In 2018, it was sold by the bank.[12]

Transition of leadership

From 1948 to 1968, Carver was led by Joseph E. Davis, its first President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In 1970, Richard Greene was appointed president and CEO and led the bank for the next 25 years. In 1995, Thomas Clark Jr. was appointed director, President, succeeding Greene.[13] In April 1999, Carver's Board of Directors appointed Deborah C. Wright as its second female President and CEO. She retired on December 31, 2014. Effective January 1, 2015 Michael T. Pugh, the President and Chief Operating Officer succeeded Wright as CEO.[1][14]

See also

References
  1. Aaron Elstein, “Carver Federal names CEO,” Crain's New York Business, November 18, 2014.
  2. Douglas Martin (May 22, 2002). "M. Moran Weston, 91, Priest and Banker of Harlem, Dies". The New York Times.
  3. Terry Pristin (April 13, 1999). "Former City Official Named Chief of Black-Owned Bank". The New York Times.
  4. Katherine Waldock (September 21, 2020). "How Can You Be an Ally? Go to a Black-Owned Bank". The New York Times.
  5. The team leader, Weston, lived to 91; team member William R. Hudgins lived to 100: Dennis Hevesi (September 5, 2007). "William R. Hudgins, 100, Who Led Black-Owned Banks, Dies". The New York Times.
  6. Michael J. de la Merced (August 9, 2006). "Richard T. Greene Sr., 93, Is Dead; Made a Bank an Institution". The New York Times.
  7. "HARLEM;Bank Rebuilds, To Street's Benefit, After a Major Fire". The New York Times. March 3, 1996.
  8. Michael J. de la Merced (March 16, 2007). "2 Financial Institutions Find Common Cause in New York". The New York Times.
  9. John Holl (March 17, 2004). "Merger Of Black-Owned Banks". The New York Times.
  10. "The Lee Building". June 20, 2021.
  11. "Carver Federal Savings Bank Plans to Move Its Headquarters". Commercial Observer. March 16, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  12. Elstein, Aaron. "Carver Federal Savings sells Harlem headquarters for $19.45 million". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  13. "Carver Federal Hires Thomas Clark, N.Y. Regulator, as Chief Executive". American Banker. January 5, 1995.
  14. "Saving Carver Federal, New York's last black bank". Crain's New York Business. March 22, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2020.

Carver Bancorp Inc. New York Times

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