An African American Owned Bank In Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1934 in the middle of the Depression to serve the African American community, the Industrial Bank was for many years the only African American owned and operated bank in Washington, D.C. The bank survived and grew through hard times and still serves the city after 75 years. The current CEO of the Bank, B. Doyle Mitchell Jr. and his sister, executive vice president Patricia Mitchell, tell the story of the Industrial Bank with the assistance of professional writer Lisa Frazier Page in this 2012 book in the Images of America series. Edward Ellington Jr. and April Ellington wrote a moving forward to the volume. In 2009, the Ellington's selected Industrial Bank to distribute the Washington, D.C. Duke Ellington Commemorative Quarter. The Ellington family has long been friends with the Mitchell family, which founded and has directed the bank over the years.
When Washington's only African American owned bank failed in 1933, Congress authorized the formation of a new bank. The bank raised capital by the sale of stock at ten dollars a share and many local members of the community scraped together their funds to buy in. The bank has extended credit to many African American individuals and businesses who were routinely denied loans from other financial institutions. The Industrial Bank opened on August 13, 1934 in the U Street Corridor, the heart of Washington D.C.'s African American business and entertainment district, on the site occupied by the failed bank. A young entrepreneur, Texas-born Jesse Mitchell became the director. Jesse Mitchell, his son Doyle Mitchell, and Doyle's son Doyle Mitchell Jr. have been the three CEO's of the Industrial Bank since its founding.
Most banks probably do not inspire a feeling of closeness in their customers, but the Industrial Bank has become a revered community institution. The book includes many photos and stories of people who worked for their entire careers at the bank or who were long-term customers. The Industrial Bank was particularly active in making loans to African American churches. Most banks avoid loans to religious institutions because of the bad publicity that would result in the event of foreclosure on a church. The Industrial Bank has been successful with these loans over the years.
The book documents the growth of the bank through the tenure of each of the Mitchells. It is valuable to see the history of the bank as segregation waned. From 1959 to 1966, for example, Doyle Mitchell served as president of the National Bankers Association which consisted primarily of minority and women-owned banks. In 1981, Doyle Mitchell became president of the D.C. Bankers Association, which had refused to admit the Industrial Bank as a member before the mid-1960's. When Mitchell became president, his predecessor declined to perform the customary ritual of "pinning" him. An earlier president of the group had to present Mitchell with his presidential pin.
The book discusses the expansion of the Industrial Bank beginning in the 1960s with the establishment of branches in the Georgia Avenue-Petworth and Northeast sections of Washington, D.C. A young African American architect, Robert Madison, designed both of the new buildings. Other branches were established downtown and elsewhere in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. In 2009, Industrial Bank celebrated its 75th anniversary with celebrations and recognition throughout the city. The book shows how the success of the bank and its conservative entrepreneurial spirit have become a source of pride to the city's African American community.
Readers interested in local African American history and in a success story of an African American business will be inspired by this photographic history of the Industrial Bank.
