Louise McCarren Herring (September 20, 1909 – November 2, 1987), was an

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

native, recognized as one of the pioneer leaders of the not-for-profit

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including deposit accounts, provisi ...

movement in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Herring is universally regarded in the United States credit union movement as being the “Mother of Credit Unions” for her work with the movement since its earliest days. Herring was one of the attendees at the 1934

Estes Park, Colorado Estes Park is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States Census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Cor ...

, meeting that established the

Credit Union National Association The Credit Union National Association, commonly known as CUNA (pronounced "Cue-Nuh"), is a national trade association for both state- and federally chartered credit unions located in the United States. CUNA provides member credit unions with tr ...

(better known as CUNA). Also attending the Estes Park meeting were Edward Filene, Claude Clark, and

Dora Maxwell Dora Maxwell (1897 – June 29, 1985) was an early credit union pioneer in New York state. Despite having to deal with intimidating bankers, she secured charters for hundreds of credit unions throughout the United States. In 1932 Maxwell replaced ...

. Herring’s commitment to the value of credit unions elevated her to national leader of the movement. Herring is credited with helping to establish five hundred credit unions and was a supporter of the dual share insurance system, helping to establish the private National Deposit Guaranty Corporation, which is now known as

American Share Insurance American Share Insurance (ASI) is a private corporation which insures shares (deposits) in some state chartered credit unions in the United States. ASI was established in 1974 as the Ohio Credit Union Shareholders Guaranty Association, changing ...

(ASI). Prior to her marriage, she served as the first paid Executive Secretary of the Ohio Credit Union League (now Ohio Credit Union System) which she co-founded. Herring also served as the longtime manager of KEMBA (Kroger Employees Mutual Benefit Association) Credit Union in Cincinnati. Herring was inducted into the

National Cooperative Business Association The National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) is a United States membership organization for cooperatives, which are businesses that are jointly owned and democratically controlled. The association was founded in 1916 as the Cooperative ...

Cooperative Hall of Fame The Cooperative Hall of Fame recognizes individuals from the United States who have made outstanding contributions to cooperatives. The Hall of Fame was established in 1974 and is administered by the Cooperative Development Foundation. Nominations f ...

in 1983. CUNA annually awards the Louise Herring Award for Philosophy in Action, which recognizes those credit unions which “demonstrate the exceptional effort to integrate credit union philosophy” (not for profit but for service) into the daily operations of their credit unions and recognize their commitment to superior service to their member/owners. The Ohio Credit Union System tri-annually awards the Louise McCarren Herring Lifetime Achievement Award to those individuals who have demonstrated a lifetime dedication to the advancement of the credit union movement in

. Louise McCarren Herring died in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

, in 1987.

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External links

* More detailed biography of Herring. {{DEFAULTSORT:Herring, Louise McCarren 1909 births 1987 deaths People from Cincinnati American cooperative organizers

See also

References

External links