On October 6th of 1919,10 months before US government officials ratified the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote, Brena Vineyard Runyon established the first bank in the United States to be completely run by women including the managers, directors, and staff in Clarksville,TN named The First Women’s Bank of Tennessee. The Observer spoke Runyon’s grandson Frank Runyon who said, “It was organized as the first financial institution in the world to be conducted by women. Everyone connected with it was a woman, although they didn’t restrict the sale of stock,” (Observer 1976)

Trenton Kentucky native, Brena Runyon, spent much of her adult life a leader in the Clarksville community. “Founder and president Brenda Vineyard Runyon led the 1916 drive for a city/county hospital in Clarksville. An active leader in community efforts, she was director of the Clarksville Branch of the American Red Cross during World War I, and served as sole female member of the school board.(mchsociety)

According to the Observer reporter of 1976, the bank opened with $15,000 of assets and the deposits totaled about $20,000 (Observer, 1976). The bank remained open for 7 years until Brena health began to decline in 1926. It was abosorbed by the First Trust and Savings Bank of Clarksville which was later taken over by Commerce Union Bank which is now Nations Bank (Tennessee).

References

Binnicker, M. D., (December 25, 2009). First Woman’s Bank. The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2.0. https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=465

(1976, January, 14) Tennessee Had A Women’s Bank Back in 191. The Observer. Retrieved from https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2519&dat=19760114&id= 1YViAAAAIBAJ&sjid=j3cNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1224,1275732&hl=en

Untitled1. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2016, from http://www.mchsociety.org/Sub-Pages/ Hist-People-Famous.html