The Freedman's Savings Bank's fall is still taking a toll a century and a half later
In The Rise and Fall of the Freedman's Savings Bank and Its Lasting Socio-economic Impact on Black America (Spiramus Press), former USA TODAY Deputy Managing Editor of Money Rodney A. Brooks tells the story of an institution created to give newly emancipated African Americans a place where they could deposit their earnings and begin to build wealth. Just nine years later, in the wake of corruption, mismanagement and fraud committed by its white management, the bank was shuttered.
Rodney Brooks
An award-winning journalist, writer and author and my specialty is retirement planning and other personal finance issues. I have written for many national publications, including USA TODAY, The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, AARP and National Geographic. I am available to speak on personal finance, financial literacy and the racial wealth gap.
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The author tells the history of the Freedman’s Savings Bank, how it grew much too quickly, why it failed and the impact on Black America. The Freedman’s Bank offered a safe depository for formerly enslaved people, expanded quickly and gained millions in deposits – mostly ranging from $5 to $50. But inexperience and corruption doomed it to failure, costing may of the small depositors their savings.
