Carver Federal Savings Bank, opened under the leadership of M. Moran Weston in 1948, is "one of the largest black-owned financial institutions" in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. RegusWachovia Global Equity Holding Group & Carver Bancorp, Inc. is its holding company. The bank has been designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

History

The bank applied for a federal charter "after the state had denied it a charter," and opened in a simple

storefront A storefront or shopfront is the facade or entryway of a retail store located on the ground floor or street level of a commercial building, typically including one or more display windows. A storefront functions to attract visual attention to a b ...

in 1948. Carver Federal Savings Bank was not the first bank named after

George Washington Carver George Washington Carver ( 1864 – January 5, 1943) was an American Agricultural science, agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was one of the most prominent bla ...

. Four years earlier an unrelated bank, Carver Savings and Loan Association, opened in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. 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. CarverFoundingOfficers 1948 NYC

M. Moran Weston already had earlier experience as the 1945-founder of a

credit union A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (che ...

, and, for Carver, had a supporting team of 14. Carver Federal Savings Bank served multiple purposes: * to meet the financial services needs of African- and Caribbean-Americans in New York City * to help black homeowners obtain first mortgages * to train Blacks for careers in the banking professions in New York for the first time * 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."

Branch structure

The bank began operations at 53 West 125th Street in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan ...

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. In February 1961, Carver opened a second branch in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. 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.

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 Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

-based bank to take it over. The bank expanded in 2004 by acquiring ''Independence Federal Savings Bank''.

Carver Federal Savings Bank headquarters

Carver Bank is headquartered in the Lee Building at 1825

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...

. 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. In 2018, it was sold by the bank.

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. In April 1999, Carver's

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

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 A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

succeeded Wright as CEO.Aaron Elstein
“Carver Federal names CEO,”
''

Crain's New York Business Crain Communications Inc. is an American publishing conglomerate based in Detroit, Michigan, United States, with 13 foreign subsidiaries. History Gustavus Dedman "G.D." Crain Jr. ( Gustavus Demetrious Crain Jr.; 1885–1973), previously the ci ...

'', November 18, 2014. In September 2024, Carver announced that Donald Felix would succeed Pugh effective November later that year.https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carver-bancorp-inc-names-donald-felix-president-and-ceo-effective-november-01-2024-302249415.html#:~:text=Mr.%20Felix%20will%20succeed%20Craig,member%20of%20the%20Carver%20Board.

References

A Shaky Pillar in Harlem: Black-Owned Carver Bank Is Resistant to Profitability and Change.
* From the New York Times Archive, July 11, 1999. Story by Leslie Eaton

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Companies listed on the Nasdaq Banks based in New York City Companies formerly listed on NYSE American Black-owned companies of the United States