A savings bank is a financial institution that is not run on a profit-maximizing basis, and whose original or primary purpose is collecting deposits on savings accounts that are invested on a low-risk basis and receive interest . Savings banks have mostly existed as a separate category in Europe .
114-761: The Philadelphia Savings Fund Society ( PSFS ), originally called the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society , was a savings bank headquartered in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , United States. PSFS was founded in December 1816, the first savings bank to organize and do business in the United States. The bank would develop as one of the largest savings banks in the United States and became a Philadelphia institution. Generations of Philadelphians first opened accounts as children and became lifelong depositors. The bank
228-574: A 14-year-old boy from Chicago. Spending the summer with relatives in Money, Mississippi , Till was killed for allegedly having wolf-whistled at a White woman. Till had been badly beaten, one of his eyes was gouged out, and he was shot in the head. The visceral response to his mother's decision to have an open-casket funeral mobilized the Black community throughout the US. Vann R. Newkirk wrote "the trial of his killers became
342-583: A Europe-wide phenomenon in the first half of the 19th century. The trajectories of savings bank systems then diverged acrossbanks are q scam, conversion into cooperative banking or commercial banking entities, and/or piecemeal consolidation with other credit institutions. In most countries, the surviving savings banks have private-sector status and no longer operate under a distinctive legislative framework; significant exceptions include Germany and Luxembourg, where savings banks are public-sector entities. In many European languages, savings banks are referred to by
456-466: A White American mother and a Kenyan father— defeated Republican Senator John McCain to become the first African American to be elected president. At least 95 percent of African American voters voted for Obama. He also received overwhelming support from young and educated Whites, a majority of Asians , and Hispanics , picking up a number of new states in the Democratic electoral column. Obama lost
570-542: A crucial role in producing the country's most valuable product and export: cotton . Enslaved people were instrumental in the construction of several prominent structures such as, the United States Capitol , the White House and other Washington, D.C.-based buildings. ) Similar building projects existed in the slave states . By 1815, the domestic slave trade had become a significant and major economic activity in
684-491: A culture of thrift and financial prudence among the lower classes, and using savings and the logic of compound interest as an incentive to think beyond short-term living horizons. In France, savings banks projects started to emerge in the 1750s and multiplied during the French Revolution but with no lasting success. Liberal luminaries including Adam Smith , Thomas Robert Malthus and Jean-Baptiste Say took interest in
798-643: A federal crime to aid or assist those who had fled slavery or to interfere with their capture. By that time, slavery, which almost exclusively targeted Black people, had become the most critical and contentious political issue in the Antebellum United States , repeatedly sparking crises and conflicts. Among these were the Missouri Compromise , the Compromise of 1850 , the infamous Dred Scott decision , and John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry . Prior to
912-399: A foundational difference with cooperative banking which started developing a bit later during the 19th century. Savings banks were typically heavily regulated and supervised by local or national governments, and restricted to invest only in government debt or other instruments deemed of low financial risk. Over time, however, these distinctions have tended to erode, and over the 20th century
1026-535: A group formed to promote relations between the countries. After riots against Blacks in Cincinnati , its Black community sponsored founding of the Wilberforce Colony , an initially successful settlement of African American immigrants to Canada. The colony was one of the first such independent political entities. It lasted for a number of decades and provided a destination for about 200 Black families emigrating from
1140-589: A new location and in 1866 a location was found on Seventh and Walnut Streets. Designed by architect Addison Hutton construction began in 1868 and the PSFS Headquarters building was opened for business on October 11, 1869. Forced to expand even more, additions were later made in 1885-86 by Hutton and in 1897–98, designed by Frank Furness . By 1917 the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society had the largest number of depositors of any savings bank in
1254-586: A number of locations in the United States. In 1863, during the American Civil War , President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation . The proclamation declared that all slaves in Confederate-held territory were free. Advancing Union troops enforced the proclamation, with Texas being the last state to be emancipated, in 1865. Slavery in a few border states continued until
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#17328522556681368-499: A pageant illuminating the tyranny of White supremacy ". The state of Mississippi tried two defendants, but they were speedily acquitted by an all-White jury . One hundred days after Emmett Till's murder, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus in Alabama—indeed, Parks told Emmett's mother Mamie Till that "the photograph of Emmett's disfigured face in the casket was set in her mind when she refused to give up her seat on
1482-434: A play. In the plays, costumed children warned the audience about spending money on treats, movies, and penny arcades instead of putting the money in a savings bank where it would grow. By the end of the 1920s PSFS was the third largest savings bank in the United States and in 1935 was ranked thirty-fourth largest savings bank in the world. In 1932 PSFS built a new headquarters building on Market Street. The new PSFS Building
1596-727: A process known as White flight . Despite discrimination, drawing cards for leaving the hopelessness in the South were the growth of African American institutions and communities in Northern cities. Institutions included Black oriented organizations (e.g., Urban League , NAACP ), churches, businesses, and newspapers, as well as successes in the development in African American intellectual culture, music, and popular culture (e.g., Harlem Renaissance , Chicago Black Renaissance ). The Cotton Club in Harlem
1710-565: A separate counter just for student accounts at their headquarters. The School Accounts Counter included step stools for the youngest depositors. The program helped several generations of Philadelphians open up accounts as children, leading many to become lifelong customers. Another way PSFS taught children to save money in savings banks was a program that produced pageants for playgrounds and settlement houses . The pageants included songs about thriftiness set to popular music, cheers, speeches that quoted historical figures' opinions on thriftiness, and
1824-521: A share. In Slattery (Meritor Savings) v. U.S. , after losing before a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit, the government petitioned for a rehearing en banc . The court has agreed to review whether the trial court had the appropriate jurisdiction to hear the breach of contract dispute. The government is further arguing that the FDIC is Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentality (NAFI), an agency created by
1938-511: A significant influence on worldwide culture, making numerous contributions to visual arts , literature , the English language, philosophy , politics, cuisine , sports , and music . The African-American contribution to popular music is so profound that most American music , including jazz , gospel , blues , rock and roll , funk , disco , house , techno , hip hop , R&B , trap , and soul , has its origins either partially or entirely in
2052-463: A similar institution in Philadelphia. A meeting was held on November 25 to discuss the plan. A total of twelve men agreed to work together to form the bank. Along with Raguet, Peters, Biddle, and Hale, the other men, called associate founders, were Charles N. Bancker, Andrew Bayard, Samuel Breck , John McCrea, William Schlatter, John C. Stocker, John Strawbridge and Roberts Vaux . Over several meetings
2166-425: A small cash payment called "freedom dues". Africans could legally raise crops and cattle to purchase their freedom. They raised families, married other Africans and sometimes intermarried with Native Americans or European settlers . By the 1640s and 1650s, several African families owned farms around Jamestown , and some became wealthy by colonial standards and purchased indentured servants of their own. In 1640,
2280-501: A troublesome dispute with bondholders by giving up 37 percent of its common stock plus cash to redeem US$ 115 million (equivalent to $ 229 million in 2023) in debt. By October 1992, bank analysts had listed Meritor among institutions most likely to be seized by the end of the year. In the next month, worried depositors withdrew more than US$ 100 million (equivalent to $ 195 million in 2023) from PSFS branches. On December 4, Meritor sold off its Florida-based savings and loan subsidiary,
2394-558: A word that differentiates them from banks ( French : caisse , German : Kasse , Italian : cassa , Russian : касса , Spanish : caja ) and denotes their more restricted scope of activity, sometimes translated as "fund". That word has no direct equivalent in English; its etymology is identical with that of cash and it originally referred to a cash box , then a cash register . The origin of savings banks lies in liberal and philanthropic aspirations that motivated their promoters to create non-profit establishments aimed at promoting
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#17328522556682508-423: A year, compared with 41 percent in 1960. In 1965, 19 percent of Black Americans had incomes equal to the national median, a proportion that rose to 27 percent by 1967. In 1960, the median level of education for Blacks had been 10.8 years, and by the late 1960s, the figure rose to 12.2 years, half a year behind the median for Whites. Politically and economically, African Americans have made substantial strides during
2622-727: Is now the continental United States. The first recorded Africans in English America (including most of the future United States) were "20 and odd negroes" who arrived in Jamestown , Virginia via Cape Comfort in August 1619 as indentured servants . As many Virginian settlers began to die from harsh conditions, more and more Africans were brought to work as laborers. An indentured servant (who could be White or Black) would work for several years (usually four to seven) without wages. The status of indentured servants in early Virginia and Maryland
2736-695: The American Revolution . After the United States was founded in 1783, most Black people continued to be enslaved , primarily concentrated in the American South , with four million enslaved people only liberated during and at the end of the Civil War in 1865. During Reconstruction , they gained citizenship and adult-males the right to vote ; however, due to the widespread policy and ideology of White supremacy , they were largely treated as second-class citizens and found themselves soon disenfranchised in
2850-673: The Civil War , eight serving presidents had owned slaves, a practice that was legally protected under the US Constitution. By 1860, the number of enslaved Black people in the US had grown to between 3.5 to 4.4 million, largely as a result of the Atlantic slave trade . In addition, 488,000–500,000 Black people lived free (with legislated limits) across the country. With legislated limits imposed upon them in addition to "unconquerable prejudice" from Whites according to Henry Clay . In response to these conditions, some free Black people chose to leave
2964-598: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) . The FDIC then sold its remaining assets to Mellon Financial for US$ 335 million (equivalent to $ 653 million in 2023). Mellon renamed the former PSFS branches Mellon PSFS, a name which lasted the end of 2001, when the branches were acquired by Citizens Financial Group . Founded in 1816, the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society was the first savings bank to organize and do business in
3078-717: The Great Awakening . By 1775, Africans made up 20% of the population in the American colonies , which made them the second largest ethnic group after English Americans . During the 1770s, Africans, both enslaved and free, helped rebellious American colonists secure their independence by defeating the British in the American Revolutionary War . Blacks played a role in both sides in the American Revolution. Activists in
3192-589: The Irish and Germans . According to the 2010 census , nearly 3% of people who self-identified as Black had recent ancestors who immigrated from another country. Self-reported non-Hispanic Black immigrants from the Caribbean , mostly from Jamaica and Haiti, represented 0.9% of the US population, at 2.6 million. Self-reported Black immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa also represented 0.9%, at about 2.8 million. Additionally, self-identified Black Hispanics represented 0.4% of
3306-656: The Western states. The west does have a sizable Black population in certain areas, however. California, the nation's most populous state, has the fifth largest African American population, only behind New York, Texas, Georgia, and Florida. According to the 2000 census, approximately 2.05% of African Americans identified as Hispanic or Latino in origin , many of whom may be of Brazilian , Puerto Rican , Dominican , Cuban , Haitian , or other Latin American descent. The only self-reported ancestral groups larger than African Americans are
3420-446: The colony of Georgia to come to Florida as a refuge, promising freedom in exchange for conversion to Catholicism . King Charles II issued a royal proclamation freeing all slaves who fled to Spanish Florida and accepted conversion and baptism. Most went to the area around St. Augustine , but escaped slaves also reached Pensacola. St. Augustine had mustered an all-Black militia unit defending Spanish Florida as early as 1683. One of
3534-623: The 16th century, with Africans from West Africa and coastal Central Africa being sold to European slave traders and transported across the Atlantic to the Western Hemisphere . After arriving in the Americas , they were sold as slaves to European colonists and put to work on plantations , particularly in the southern colonies . A few were able to achieve freedom through manumission or escape, and founded independent communities before and during
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3648-429: The 1790s, Governor Francisco Luis Héctor, baron of Carondelet reinforced local fortifications and recruit even more free Black men for the militia. Carondelet doubled the number of free Black men who served, creating two more militia companies—one made up of Black members and the other of pardo (mixed race). Serving in the militia brought free Black men one step closer to equality with Whites, allowing them, for example,
3762-513: The 1820s PSFS moved three more times, to Decatur Street in 1821 and Third and Walnut Streets in 1826. The latter office proved too small, so PSFS quickly bought its own building elsewhere on Walnut Street and moved there on October 2, 1827. By 1833 PSFS again needed more room and PSFS bought property on which the bank built a structure designed by Thomas U. Walter . PSFS moved into the new building in February 1840. In 1865 PSFS again began looking for
3876-629: The 1900 Hampton Negro Conference , Reverend Matthew Anderson said: "...the lines along most of the avenues of wage earning are more rigidly drawn in the North than in the South." Within the housing market, stronger discriminatory measures were used in correlation to the influx, resulting in a mix of "targeted violence, restrictive covenants , redlining and racial steering ". While many Whites defended their space with violence, intimidation, or legal tactics toward African Americans, many other Whites migrated to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions,
3990-733: The 1920s that encouraged children to put money into savings accounts instead of spending it on treats and school programs, allowing children to open accounts with PSFS. In the 1970s, changes in the personal finance industry led to smaller banks struggling to stay open. A government solution had such banks merge with healthier ones and in 1982, the Western Savings Fund Society was merged with PSFS. The merger deal and changes in regulations allowed PSFS to expand into new business ventures. PSFS quickly began expanding into other fields such as corporate finance , mutual funds , and real estate development . In 1984 PSFS began doing business under
4104-458: The 1960s PSFS, along with three other Philadelphia savings banks, established a US$ 20 million (equivalent to $ 134 million in 2023) pool to finance mainly low and moderate income minority families. The United States in the 1970s saw numerous changes to personal finance such as the advent of credit cards , money-market funds and automated teller machines . These changes resulted in a crisis for traditional community banks. The crisis prompted
4218-536: The 20th and 21st centuries, immigration has played an increasingly significant role in the African-American community. As of 2022, 10% of Black Americans were immigrants, and 20% were either immigrants or the children of immigrants. In 2008, Barack Obama became the first, and so far only, African American to be elected president of the United States. Kamala Harris became the nation's first African-American vice president in 2020. African-American culture has had
4332-663: The African slave trade, Spanish rule introduced a new law called coartación , which allowed slaves to buy their freedom, and that of others. Although some did not have the money to do so, government measures on slavery enabled the existence of many free Blacks. This caused problems to the Spaniards with the French creoles (French who had settled in New France ) who had also populated Spanish Louisiana. The French creoles cited that measure as one of
4446-514: The African-American community. The vast majority of those who were enslaved and transported in the transatlantic slave trade were people from several Central and West Africa ethnic groups. They had been captured directly by the slave traders in coastal raids, or sold by other West Africans, or by half-European "merchant princes" to European slave traders, who brought them to the Americas. The first African slaves arrived via Santo Domingo in
4560-503: The American Revolution. They fought in the 1779 battle in which Spain captured Baton Rouge from the British. Gálvez also commanded them in campaigns against the British outposts in Mobile , Alabama , and Pensacola , Florida. He recruited slaves for the militia by pledging to free anyone who was seriously wounded and promised to secure a low price for coartación (buy their freedom and that of others) for those who received lesser wounds. During
4674-695: The Caisse d'Épargne de Madagascar (est. 1918), and the National Savings Bank in Sri Lanka (est. 1971), and the Postal Savings Bank of China (est. 2007). After a long period of relative stability, including through two world wars and the European banking crisis of 1931 during which they were comparatively less affected than commercial banks, the savings banks came under increasing competitive pressure during
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4788-504: The Caribbean to the San Miguel de Gualdape colony (most likely located in the Winyah Bay area of present-day South Carolina ), founded by Spanish explorer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón in 1526. The ill-fated colony was almost immediately disrupted by a fight over leadership, during which the slaves revolted and fled the colony to seek refuge among local Native Americans . De Ayllón and many of
4902-474: The Dutch African arrivals, Anthony Johnson , would later own one of the first Black "slaves", John Casor , resulting from the court ruling of a civil case. The popular conception of a race-based slave system did not fully develop until the 18th century. The Dutch West India Company introduced slavery in 1625 with the importation of eleven Black slaves into New Amsterdam (present-day New York City ). All
5016-475: The FDIC could be found to be in breach, but it would be entitled to recover the judgment by member banks. In order to find the FDIC a NAFI, the government is arguing that Congress has no obligation to honor its promises to back deposits with the full faith and credit of the United States. Savings bank Savings banks originated in late-18th century Europe as a development of the Enlightenment , and became
5130-446: The FDIC, claiming regulators reneged on their 1982 promise to permit goodwill in the company's merger with Western Savings Fund Society. The lawsuit kept the stock for the now defunct company alive with speculators buying shares for as little as 5 cents with hopes of a government payout to settle the case. Most of the 55 million outstanding Meritor shares are believed to be owned by speculators or PSFS depositors who had bought shares when
5244-451: The Jim Crow laws, to avoid racially motivated violence . To maintain self-esteem and dignity, African Americans such as Anthony Overton and Mary McLeod Bethune continued to build their own schools , churches , banks, social clubs, and other businesses. In the last decade of the 19th century, racially discriminatory laws and racial violence aimed at African Americans began to mushroom in
5358-725: The Montgomery bus." The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the conditions which brought it into being are credited with putting pressure on presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson . Johnson put his support behind passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that banned discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and labor unions , and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which expanded federal authority over states to ensure Black political participation through protection of voter registration and elections. By 1966,
5472-736: The Patriot cause included James Armistead , Prince Whipple , and Oliver Cromwell . Around 15,000 Black Loyalists left with the British after the war, most of them ending up as free Black people in England or its colonies, such as the Black Nova Scotians and the Sierra Leone Creole people . In the Spanish Louisiana , Governor Bernardo de Gálvez organized Spanish free Black men into two militia companies to defend New Orleans during
5586-401: The South . These circumstances changed due to participation in the military conflicts of the United States , substantial migration out of the South , the elimination of legal racial segregation , and the civil rights movement which sought political and social freedom. However, racism against African Americans and racial socioeconomic disparity remain a problem into the 21st century. In
5700-534: The South sparked the Great Migration during the first half of the 20th century which led to a growing African American community in Northern and Western United States. The rapid influx of Blacks disturbed the racial balance within Northern and Western cities, exacerbating hostility between both Blacks and Whites in the two regions. The Red Summer of 1919 was marked by hundreds of deaths and higher casualties across
5814-513: The US Census Bureau, evidence from the 2000 census indicates that many African and Caribbean immigrant ethnic groups do not identify as "Black, African Am., or Negro". Instead, they wrote in their own respective ethnic groups in the "Some Other Race" write-in entry. As a result, the census bureau devised a new, separate "African American" ethnic group category in 2010 for ethnic African Americans. Nigerian Americans and Ethiopian Americans were
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#17328522556685928-636: The US and emigrate to Liberia in West Africa. Liberia had been established in 1821 as a settlement by the American Colonization Society (ACS), with many abolitionist members of the ACS believing Black Americans would have greater opportunities for freedom and equality in Africa than they would in the US. Slaves not only represented a significant financial investment for their owners, but they also played
6042-497: The US as a result of race riots that occurred in more than three dozen cities, such as the Chicago race riot of 1919 and the Omaha race riot of 1919 . Overall, Blacks in Northern and Western cities experienced systemic discrimination in a plethora of aspects of life. Within employment, economic opportunities for Blacks were routed to the lowest-status and restrictive in potential mobility. At
6156-407: The US. As a result of this large-scale forced movement, countless individuals lost their connection to families and clans, and many ethnic Africans lost their knowledge of varying tribal origins in Africa. The 1863 photograph of Wilson Chinn , a branded slave from Louisiana, along with the famous image of Gordon and his scarred back, served as two of the earliest and most powerful examples of how
6270-719: The United Kingdom), Boston (1816, first in the United States), Paris (1818, first in France), and Vienna (1819, first in the Austrian Empire). Even so, origin stories of the savings bank concept were long disputed. In 1914, the New Student's Reference Work said of the origins of savings banks: France claims the credit of being the mother of savings banks, basing this claim on a savings bank said to have been established in 1765 in
6384-533: The United States . Most African Americans are descendants of enslaved people within the boundaries of the present United States. While some Black immigrants or their children may also come to identify as African American, the majority of first-generation immigrants do not, preferring to identify with their nation of origin. Most African Americans are of West African and coastal Central African ancestry, with varying amounts of Western European and Native American ancestry. African-American history began in
6498-423: The United States . In June 2021, Juneteenth , a day which commemorates the end of slavery in the US, became a federal holiday. In 1790, when the first US census was taken, Africans (including slaves and free people) numbered about 760,000—about 19.3% of the population. In 1860, at the start of the Civil War , the African American population had increased to 4.4 million, but the percentage rate dropped to 14% of
6612-462: The United States and was second only to the Emigrant Savings Bank in the amount of money deposited. In 1923 PSFS began the first in-school banking program at William Penn School for Girls. The program was intended to teach children to save by allowing them to deposit money at the bank. In junior high schools PSFS had students work as tellers to collect and record deposits. PSFS also provided
6726-471: The United States population, at about 1.2 million people, largely found within the Puerto Rican and Dominican communities. Self-reported Black immigrants hailing from other countries in the Americas, such as Brazil and Canada, as well as several European countries, represented less than 0.1% of the population. Mixed-race Hispanic and non-Hispanic Americans who identified as being part Black, represented 0.9% of
6840-748: The United States, a period often referred to as the " nadir of American race relations ". These discriminatory acts included racial segregation—upheld by the United States Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896—which was legally mandated by southern states and nationwide at the local level of government, voter suppression or disenfranchisement in the southern states, denial of economic opportunity or resources nationwide, and private acts of violence and mass racial violence aimed at African Americans unhindered or encouraged by government authorities. The desperate conditions of African Americans in
6954-690: The United States, continuing to flourish until the 1860s. Historians estimate that nearly one million individuals were subjected to this forced migration, which was often referred to as a new "Middle Passage". The historian Ira Berlin described this internal forced migration of enslaved people as the "central event" in the life of a slave during the period between the American Revolution and the Civil War. Berlin emphasized that whether enslaved individuals were directly uprooted or lived in constant fear that they or their families would be involuntarily relocated, "the massive deportation traumatized Black people" throughout
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#17328522556687068-472: The United States. Savings banks had existed in Europe for years and in the early 1810s had grown rapidly through Great Britain. This growth became the topic of numerous journals and pamphlets, some of which were brought to the attention of Philadelphia businessman Condy Raguet in late November 1816. Interested in the idea, Raguet approached associates, Richard Peters , Clement C. Biddle and Thomas Hale on creating
7182-449: The Virginia General Court recorded the earliest documentation of lifetime slavery when they sentenced John Punch , a Negro, to lifetime servitude under his master Hugh Gwyn , for running away. In Spanish Florida , some Spanish married or had unions with Pensacola , Creek or African women, both enslaved and free, and their descendants created a mixed-race population of mestizos and mulattos . The Spanish encouraged slaves from
7296-429: The bank went to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend itself against a claim sexual harassment . In Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson , the court found the bank liable under the 1964 Civil Rights Act . Things soon took a turn for the worse as the company began losing millions through its new business ventures as its competitors began encroaching on Meritor's home market. Meritor's stock prices continuously dropped from almost
7410-451: The colonists died shortly afterward, due to an epidemic and the colony was abandoned. The settlers and the slaves who had not escaped returned to the Island of Hispaniola , whence they had come. The marriage between Luisa de Abrego, a free Black domestic servant from Seville , and Miguel Rodríguez, a White Segovian conquistador in 1565 in St. Augustine (Spanish Florida), is the first known and recorded Christian marriage anywhere in what
7524-430: The colony's slaves, however, were freed upon its surrender to the English. Massachusetts was the first English colony to legally recognize slavery in 1641. In 1662, Virginia passed a law that children of enslaved women would take the status of the mother, rather than that of the father, as was the case under common law . This legal principle was called partus sequitur ventrum . By an act of 1699, Virginia ordered
7638-420: The company acquired four savings and loans in Florida and began paying five cents per share quarterly dividend to stockholders. In September of that year, PSFS began doing business under the name Meritor Financial Group to emphasize its expansion into financial services. In 1986, Meritor began operating mutual funds through a subsidiary, completing the transition to a full-service financial institution. In 1986,
7752-424: The company first went public. Over the next decade there was little news on the progress of the case, with a website, meritorpsfs.com, the main source of information. On August 16, 2002, a judge ruled that the FDIC was wrong in seizing Meritor and that shareholders were entitled to damages. On February 10, 2006, Meritor investors were awarded US$ 371.7 million (equivalent to $ 541 million in 2023), totaling US$ 6.75
7866-430: The company's last out-of-state banking operation. On December 11, 1992, the Office of Thrift Supervision seized Meritor and placed it into the receivership of the FDIC, who sold Meritor's 27 remaining branches to Mellon Bank for US$ 181 million (equivalent to $ 353 million in 2023). After purchasing the PSFS bank branches and the PSFS name from Meritor, Mellon began operating its bank branches as Mellon PSFS. Acquiring
7980-559: The controlling shareholder. Slattery began pushing for changes and in June, with help from others, was able to demote chairman and CEO Frederick S. Hammer to president and replace him with Roger S. Hillas. To try to stanch the losses Hillas sold Meritor's credit-card portfolio and some of its subsidiaries. Continuing to lose money, Meritor sold 54 suburban branches of PSFS, more than half of its branches, to Pittsburgh -based Mellon Bank for US$ 335 million (equivalent to 717 million in 2023) in 1989. The deal, which included selling Mellon Bank
8094-428: The deportation of all free Blacks, effectively defining all people of African descent who remained in the colony as slaves. In 1670, the colonial assembly passed a law prohibiting free and baptized Blacks (and Native Americans) from purchasing Christians (in this act meaning White Europeans) but allowing them to buy people "of their owne nation". In Spanish Louisiana , although there was no movement toward abolition of
8208-469: The earliest written use of the name Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, were adopted. The Philadelphia Saving Fund Society (PSFS) opened two days before on December 2 in the office of the Saving Fund Society's first Secretary and Treasurer, George Billington. The office was located on the west side of South Sixth Street, between Chestnut and Market Streets . Depositing five dollars, the first depositor
8322-662: The economic and social role of savings. The oldest lasting savings bank is widely recognized to have been the Ersparungsclasse der Allgemeinen Versorgungsanstalt established in Hamburg in 1778, followed by other endeavors in Germany and Switzerland in the late 18th century. Savings banks mushroomed in the early 19th century, with landmark establishments in Göttingen (1801, first municipal savings bank), Ruthwell, Scotland (1810, first in
8436-533: The emergence of the Black Power movement, which lasted from 1966 to 1975, expanded upon the aims of the civil rights movement to include economic and political self-sufficiency, and freedom from White authority. During the post-war period, many African Americans continued to be economically disadvantaged relative to other Americans. Average Black income stood at 54 percent of that of White workers in 1947, and 55 percent in 1962. In 1959, median family income for Whites
8550-481: The executive branch that receives no funding, and will not receive any funding, from the government. The FDIC receives funding by charging banks fees to member banks. If the en banc court agrees and finds that appropriated funds may not be used to pay judgments against NAFI's, then any judgment in the Meritor Savings case will be produced by the banks regulated by the FDIC and not by Treasury dollars. In other words,
8664-531: The first African American woman elected to the US Senate . There were 8,936 Black officeholders in the United States in 2000, showing a net increase of 7,467 since 1970. In 2001, there were 484 Black mayors. In 2005, the number of Africans immigrating to the United States, in a single year, surpassed the peak number who were involuntarily brought to the United States during the Atlantic slave trade . On November 4, 2008, Democratic Senator Barack Obama —the son of
8778-546: The government to step in with a solution to force mergers between troubled banks and healthy banks such as PSFS. In April 1982, PSFS merged with the Western Savings Fund Society, receiving US$ 294 million (equivalent to $ 786 million in 2023) in assistance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) . The merger gained PSFS US$ 2 billion (equivalent to $ 5.34 billion in 2023) in assets. FDIC also credited PSFS with US$ 800 million (equivalent to $ 2.14 billion in 2023) in "supervisory goodwill". The deals also allowed
8892-476: The group figured out the bank's structure and positions. Andrew Bayard was elected the first president of the bank during the third meeting on November 28. The bank was named the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society because Raguet felt the name "bank" was unpopular and calling it a society would make it easier to receive a charter from the state legislature . On December 4, 1816, the Articles of Association, which contain
9006-499: The interest rate turmoil of the 1970s and underwent significant transformation and restructuring in many jurisdictions during the last quarter of the 20th century. By the early 21st century, savings banks were most significant in Germany and Spain, and to a lesser extent in Austria. In Communist banking systems during the 20th century, monopolistic national retail banking networks were often labeled as savings banks. The label survives in
9120-534: The merged banks to expand into new business ventures. PSFS soon began expanding into new services such as equipment leasing , corporate finance and real estate development . In September 1983, PSFS converted from a mutual organization to a stock organization selling 35 million shares at US$ 11.25 each. In January 1984, PSFS began expanding into financial service by buying a loan portfolio and mortgage business from General Electric Credit Corp. for US$ 568 million (equivalent to $ 1.41 billion in 2023). In April 1985,
9234-566: The moment they were first issued. In August 1985, Meritor revealed it invested $ 215 million (equivalent to $ 517 million in 2023) in a Virginia mortgage company that went bankrupt, and in October 1987, Meritor halted its dividend after announcing a third-quarter loss of $ 379.6 million (equivalent to $ 874 million in 2023). That same month the company also announced plans to sell some of its operations. In January 1988 venture capitalist Frank Slattery bought 5.5 percent of Meritor's stock, becoming
9348-489: The most reported sub-Saharan African groups in the United States. Historically, African Americans have been undercounted in the US census due to a number of factors. In the 2020 census, the African American population was undercounted at an estimated rate of 3.3%, up from 2.1% in 2010. Texas has the largest African American population by state. Followed by Texas is Florida , with 3.8 million, and Georgia , with 3.6 million. After 100 years of African Americans leaving
9462-399: The name Meritor Financial Group to emphasize its expansion into financial services. The new business venture led to the company losing millions of dollars; it was forced to sell off many of its subsidiaries and PSFS bank branches. Despite the effort, Meritor continued to lose money. On December 11, 1992, federal regulators seized the 176-year-old bank and placed it into the receivership of
9576-1076: The names of several significant Central and Eastern European commercial banks such as DSK Bank in Bulgaria, Česká spořitelna in Czechia, OTP Bank in Hungary, PKO Bank Polski in Poland, Sberbank in Russia, Slovenská sporiteľňa in Slovakia, and Oschadbank in Ukraine. Other non-European banks (other than postal savings systems or their successors) similarly named include the Botswana Savings Bank and Savings and Social Development Bank [ ar ] in Sudan . By chronological order of inception (not including postal savings systems ): The World Savings Banks Institute (WSBI),
9690-458: The newborn medium of photography could be used to visually document and encapsulate the brutality and cruelty of slavery. Emigration of free Blacks to their continent of origin had been proposed since the Revolutionary war. After Haiti became independent, it tried to recruit African Americans to migrate there after it re-established trade relations with the United States. The Haitian Union was
9804-537: The original European sense. African American African Americans , also known as Black Americans , formerly also called Afro-Americans , are an American racial or ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa . African Americans constitute the second largest ethno-racial group in the US after White Americans . The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of Africans enslaved in
9918-451: The overall White vote, although he won a larger proportion of White votes than any previous non-incumbent Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter . Obama was reelected for a second and final term , by a similar margin on November 6, 2012. In 2021, Kamala Harris , the daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother, became the first woman, the first African American, and the first Asian American to serve as Vice President of
10032-417: The overall population of the country. The vast majority were slaves, with only 488,000 counted as " freemen ". By 1900, the Black population had doubled and reached 8.8 million. In 1910, about 90% of African Americans lived in the South. Large numbers began migrating north looking for better job opportunities and living conditions, and to escape Jim Crow laws and racial violence. The Great Migration , as it
10146-452: The population. Of the 12.6% of United States residents who identified as Black, around 10.3% were "native Black American" or ethnic African Americans, who are direct descendants of West/Central Africans brought to the US as slaves. These individuals make up well over 80% of all Blacks in the country. When including people of mixed-race origin , about 13.5% of the US population self-identified as Black or "mixed with Black". However, according to
10260-509: The post-war Reconstruction era was initially a time of progress for African Americans, that period ended in 1876. By the late 1890s, Southern states enacted Jim Crow laws to enforce racial segregation and disenfranchisement . Segregation was now imposed with Jim Crow laws, using signs used to show Blacks where they could legally walk, talk, drink, rest, or eat. For those places that were racially mixed, non-Whites had to wait until all White customers were dealt with. Most African Americans obeyed
10374-985: The postal banks have themselves been called "savings banks", e.g. the Rijkspostspaarbank in the Netherlands (est. 1881), the Caisse Nationale d'Épargne in France (est. 1882), the Austrian Postsparkasse and Hungarian Postal Savings Bank in Austria-Hungary (est. 1882 and 1886 respectively), the People's Own Savings Bank in Zimbabwe (est. 1904, renamed in 1999), the Government Savings Bank in Thailand (est. 1913),
10488-504: The post–civil rights era. In 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American Supreme Court Justice. In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the US Congress . In 1989, Douglas Wilder became the first African American elected governor in US history. Clarence Thomas succeeded Marshall to become the second African American Supreme Court Justice in 1991. In 1992, Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois became
10602-569: The ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in December 1865. While the Naturalization Act of 1790 limited US citizenship to Whites only, the 14th Amendment (1868) gave Black people citizenship, and the 15th Amendment (1870) gave Black men the right to vote. African Americans quickly set up congregations for themselves, as well as schools and community/civic associations, to have space away from White control or oversight. While
10716-556: The regulatory framework and business model of savings banks has largely converged with those of commercial banks, albeit with significant variations across jurisdictions. Starting in 1861 with the establishment of the British Post Office Savings Bank , savings banks were increasingly subject to competition from postal savings systems which similarly collected retail savings and invested them in safe government securities, albeit with variations across countries; some of
10830-617: The remainder of the PSFS branches from Meritor in 1992, Mellon continued to expand in the 1990s including the construction of combination Mellon PSFS and Acme Markets branches, the first of which opened in 1994. In 2001, Mellon PSFS had 350 branches and 650,000 customers in Pennsylvania, South New Jersey and Delaware . Mellon PSFS's parent company, Mellon Financial, was interested in abandoning its retail banking assets and focus on high income investments. On July 17, 2001, Mellon Financial announced it
10944-461: The right to carry arms and boosting their earning power. However, actually these privileges distanced free Black men from enslaved Blacks and encouraged them to identify with Whites. Slavery had been tacitly enshrined in the US Constitution through provisions such as Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, commonly known as the 3/5 compromise . Due to the restrictions of Section 9, Clause 1 , Congress
11058-457: The right to use the name PSFS, shed US$ 4.9 billion (equivalent to $ 10.5 billion in 2023) in assets from Meritor. Earlier that year an extra "s" was added to the word "Saving" in the bank branches' name, becoming the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society. When the deal went into effect in 1990 Meritor turned off the PSFS on the PSFS Building saying it was inappropriate to use the sign. Turning off
11172-594: The sign provoked protest from the public, historians and architecture buffs and Meritor and Mellon Bank agreed to relight the sign. Despite the effort, conditions continued to deteriorate for Meritor and other banks around the United States. Not helping matters was a poor commercial real-estate market that left Meritor with empty Philadelphia office buildings and half-finished suburban strip shopping malls valued at fractions of their original cost. In February 1991, regulators demanded higher capital standards which Meritor failed to meet. A few months later in August, Meritor ending
11286-664: The south in large numbers seeking better opportunities and treatment in the west and north, a movement known as the Great Migration , there is now a reverse trend, called the New Great Migration . As with the earlier Great Migration, the New Great Migration is primarily directed toward cities and large urban areas, such as Charlotte , Houston , Dallas , Fort Worth , Huntsville , Raleigh , Tampa , San Antonio , New Orleans , Memphis , Nashville , Jacksonville , and so forth. A growing percentage of African Americans from
11400-734: The system's worst elements. First established in South Carolina in 1704, groups of armed White men— slave patrols —were formed to monitor enslaved Black people. Their function was to police slaves, especially fugitives. Slave owners feared that slaves might organize revolts or slave rebellions , so state militias were formed to provide a military command structure and discipline within the slave patrols. These patrols were used to detect, encounter, and crush any organized slave meetings which might lead to revolts or rebellions . The earliest African American congregations and churches were organized before 1800 in both northern and southern cities following
11514-578: The total population, declined until 1930 and has been rising since then. By 1990, the African American population reached about 30 million and represented 12% of the US population, roughly the same proportion as in 1900. At the time of the 2000 US census , 54.8% of African Americans lived in the South . In that year, 17.6% of African Americans lived in the Northeast and 18.7% in the Midwest , while only 8.9% lived in
11628-514: The town of Brumath , but it is of record that the savings bank idea was suggested in England as early as 1697. There was a savings bank in Hamburg, Germany, in 1778 and in Berne, Switzerland, in 1787. The first English savings bank was established in 1799, and postal savings banks were started in England in 1861. The original function of savings banks to service consumers was limited to savings, not borrowing,
11742-515: The west and north are migrating to the southern region of the US for economic and cultural reasons. The New York City , Chicago , and Los Angeles metropolitan areas have the highest decline in African Americans, while Atlanta , Dallas , and Houston have the highest increase respectively. Several smaller metro areas also saw sizable gains, including San Antonio; Raleigh and Greensboro, N.C.; and Orlando. Despite recent declines, as of 2020,
11856-543: Was $ 5,600 (equivalent to $ 58,532 in 2023), compared with $ 2,900 (equivalent to $ 30,311 in 2023) for non-White families. In 1965, 43 percent of all Black families fell into the poverty bracket, earning under $ 3,000 (equivalent to $ 29,005 in 2023) a year. The 1960s saw improvements in the social and economic conditions of many Black Americans. From 1965 to 1969, Black family income rose from 54 to 60 percent of White family income. In 1968, 23 percent of Black families earned under $ 3,000 (equivalent to $ 26,285 in 2023)
11970-510: Was Curtis Roberts, Raguet's African American servant. On February 25, 1819, the Governor of Pennsylvania approved the Pennsylvania legislature's act of incorporating the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society. PSFS grew slowly, but as early as August 1817 there were resolutions authorizing setting up branch offices outside of Philadelphia in Northern Liberties and Southwark . At first PSFS
12084-401: Was a Whites-only establishment, with Blacks (such as Duke Ellington ) allowed to perform, but to a White audience. Black Americans also found a new ground for political power in Northern cities, without the enforced disabilities of Jim Crow . By the 1950s, the civil rights movement was gaining momentum. A 1955 lynching that sparked public outrage about injustice was that of Emmett Till ,
12198-449: Was called, spanned the 1890s to the 1970s. From 1916 through the 1960s, more than 6 million Black people moved north. But in the 1970s and 1980s, that trend reversed , with more African Americans moving south to the Sun Belt than leaving it. The following table of the African American population in the United States over time shows that the African American population, as a percentage of
12312-787: Was created in 1924 in Milan , relocated in 1949 in Amsterdam and again in 1969 in Geneva and in 1994 in Brussels . Since then, the WSBI and the European Savings Banks Group (est. 1963) have operated as a single entity, representing savings banks on a European and global basis and serves as a forum to compare savings banks practices. Most of its non-European members are cooperative banks , public banks , or postal savings systems rather than savings banks in
12426-519: Was open only on Mondays for receiving deposits and Thursdays for giving payments. While PSFS soon opened daily for business, deposits and payments were still only taken on those days. In 1835 PSFS expanded giving out deposits and payments on both Mondays and Thursdays, and in 1865 it was open for all business daily. In 1818, PSFS issued its first home mortgage to architect William Strickland for US$ 7,000 (equivalent to $ 191,047 in 2023). That same year PSFS moved its offices to Sixth and Minor Streets. In
12540-498: Was organized by a group of men led by Condy Raguet , who had read about the concept of savings banks becoming popular in Great Britain. The bank quickly began to expand by adding services and branches, and moving into larger headquarters buildings. By the late 1910s, PSFS had the most depositors of any savings bank in the United States; it was second to the Emigrant Savings Bank in the amount of money deposited. PSFS began programs in
12654-446: Was selling its retail banking business, including Mellon PSFS, to Citizens Financial Group for US$ 2 billion (equivalent to $ 3.29 billion in 2023). At the end of November 2001, all Mellon PSFS branches became branches of the newly formed Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. The money Mellon Bank paid went to the FDIC, leaving Meritor's stockholders with nothing. In 1993 Slattery—who had long opposed government interference in business—sued
12768-413: Was similar to slavery. Servants could be bought, sold, or leased, and they could be physically beaten for disobedience or attempting to running away. Unlike slaves, they were freed after their term of service expired or if their freedom was purchased. Their children did not inherit their status, and on their release from contract they received "a year's provision of corn, double apparel, tools necessary", and
12882-417: Was the first international style skyscraper built in the United States. The modern skyscraper was designed by George Howe and William Lescaze and is topped with the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society's initials in 27 feet (8.2 m) red neon letters. In 1948, PSFS was the second largest savings bank in the United States with deposits totaling US$ 594,460,363 (equivalent to $ 6.03 billion in 2023). In
12996-544: Was unable to pass an Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves until 1807. Fugitive slave laws (derived from the Fugitive Slave Clause of the Constitution— Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 ) were passed by Congress in both 1793 and 1850 , guaranteeing the right of a slaveholder to recover an escaped slave anywhere within the US. Slave owners, who viewed enslaved people as property, ensured that it became
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