History of Industrial Bank Told Through Vintage Images

PRLog (Press Release) - Oct. 1, 2012 - The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Industrial Bank from local authors B. Doyle Mitchell Jr., Patricia A. Mitchell and Lisa Frazier Page. The foreword is written by brother and sister team Edward Ellington Jr. and April Ellington. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images and memories of days gone by.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a bank holiday on March 5, 1933, closing banks across the country until they proved financial soundness. Meanwhile, as the United States crawled out of the Great Depression, Jesse H. Mitchell and a group of black businessmen accomplished the extraordinary—they started a black-owned bank on a street known as “Black Broadway” in the nation’s capital.

Mitchell, a Howard University–educated lawyer and realtor, and his friends sold $65,000 in stock, and in the sweltering heat on August 20, 1934, Industrial Bank of Washington opened for business. A range of black investors rallied around the effort, from individuals, churches, and service-oriented organizations to savvy business owners.

The bank has carried on for three generations: Mitchell’s son B. Doyle Mitchell Sr. succeeded him as president in 1953, who was then succeeded in 1993 by his grandson B. Doyle Mitchell Jr. as president and CEO and his granddaughter Patricia A. Mitchell as executive vice president.

Highlights of Industrial Bank:
•   Rising from the Depression
•   Building the bank
•   Celebrating milestones and successes
•   Connecting  to the community and customers
•   Continuing the legacy

B. Doyle Mitchell Jr. and Patricia A. Mitchell teamed with award-winning author Lisa Frazier Page to tell the story of this remarkable institution. The bank’s story is illustrated through images from the Industrial Bank archives and the Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Behring Center, Smithsonian Institution. The foreword was composed by Edward Ellington Jr. and April Ellington (the Savoy Ellingtons), son and daughter of Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com or
(888)-313-2665.  

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.