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Interviewer for the Black Archives of Mid-America. I am interviewing Mr. WN Newby, who is vice president of the Southeast State Bank. 3121 prospect. This interview is being held at his home at 2925 Victor. On October 14, 1976. Mr. Newby When and where were you born? Uh,

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I was born in Norfolk, Virginia, May 26th, 1929. Could you, um, Just tell me a little bit about, uh, Um, your parents, what kind of family life you had in Virginia? Well, uh, my parents were, uh, uh, I came from a Christian family, I should say.

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Uh, my father, who is a minister, uh, my mother who, uh, was active in the church. I, I am a child of. 4. The elder child, the oldest child. What, uh, What's your mother and father's name? Maybe your grandparents? Uh, my grandparents migrated from North Carolina

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to Virginia. The family tree consists of uh Tom Lee and Elizabeth Lee. Uh, they came to Virginia to live. They, uh, they begat children and their children begat children and, uh, I'm one of the offsprings from, uh, Julia Newby and Charlie Moby. Uh, and you were

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the oldest child in the family. Uh, what did, do you, how many boys, how many girls? Uh, there were, uh, three boys and one girl. Uh, I lost a brother back in the 40s, uh, in the war. Uh, could you just tell me a little bit

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about the kind of circumstances that existed around? Your childhood in Virginia? How long were you there? Uh, I had a beautiful childhood. I attended, uh, Washington High School. They're outdated with football. At that time my parents weren't able to send me to college when I came

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out of high school. Therefore, I went into the, uh, at that time it was called the Army Air Force. Um. There I had a tenure of, uh, 3 years. I came back out of service, uh, and I attended, uh, what is, what at that time was

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called Norfolk Division of Virginia State College, later and now to be called Norfolk State College of Norfolk, Virginia. What, uh, what was your major in? Uh, would you believe physical education? No. Well yeah, yeah. I see. Uh, were you, uh, in the top 10 of your

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class or anything like that? No. Not in the top 10, uh, I would say I was a pretty good C student. Uh-huh. That's good. Uh, now, were you married, uh, while you were, when, when did you get married? Uh, I got married back in 1950. Now,

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this was, uh, after you had, uh, left, No, this was while I was still in Norfolk and still in school. Uh-huh. So you can imagine, uh, The, the sort of life uh that was offered for a black man in Virginia being married and trying to go

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to school under the GI Bill. Hm, could you uh explain Virginia? Well, what I mean primarily is, uh, at that time, The GI bill was paying something like $105 a month if you were single and $125 a month if you were married. Um-hum. OK. At that

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time, I was married and I'm using like $125 a month. Uh, classes were somewhat, uh, scheduled, so I couldn't, uh, retain a part time job. And my wife had a job working at a grocery store, which at that time wasn't paying too much money, so it

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was a touch and go situation all way. Um-hum. Did you, uh, you, uh, Have any children? Uh, no. Mhm. So how long uh did you actually, well, how long after you graduated from college did you come to Kansas State? Well, uh, I came out of school

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in 1951. Uh I went to work in what is commonly known as Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Hmm. Uh, my tenure there was something like 10 or 12 years. Uh, after coming out of the Air Force. Um In 19 49, I, I remained with the Air Force Reserve

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program. Um-hum. During the Berlin buildup. Uh, I had what was commonly known as a critical AFSC. Uh, uh, I received a letter from, uh, at that time, President Kennedy, uh, invited me to come to Kansas City to join rank with the 442nd Troop Carrier Wing and

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be a part of that during the Berlin Build-up. Mhm. What, uh, what prompted him to? Contact you as such. Because of the EFSC. Um. So, did you come to Kansas City? Uh, I came to Kansas City October the 22, 1960. And what transpired after that? Uh,

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well. The 10 years years they uh lasted 1 year. Uh, I had an option to stay or to go back to Norfolk. The job ratio, uh, the chances of succeeding were greater here in Missouri and than they were back in Virginia. So my wife and I

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decided to stay in Kansas City. Uh Now, did you, when you came to Kansas City, did you live here in the same place that you're living in now? No, across the street at 2918. This has always been sort of a very stable. Back when I was

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a child. Most of the people here really kept their homes real nice and, Kept around looking good, kept us up because. I think so. Uh, I like the neighborhood. I'm particularly fond of it. Uh, I couldn't buy a home in the neighborhood when I first wanted

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to. So I moved from here to, uh, Forty-third and Chestnut. And as soon as the home became available here back in this area. Um-hum. Uh, I decided I would buy that. Why was it that it was just during the time that it was not possible for

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ladies like? People in the community just Did not put their house on the open market for sale. Is that right? And, uh, in the Santa Fe area, uh, only until recently. Uh, has there been any homage to say? And then the block and Victor, uh. In

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this mediate area which runs from Prospect to Indiana, a diverse years of you find any house for sale on, on this street. So the majority of the families that live on the street have been here. A. 500g. Yeah. Uh, the children seemingly, uh, following their pattern,

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staying in, Yes, um. They stay here because, uh, Like, like any, like any children or any child would do, they, they, they, they tend to leave. Um-hum. Uh, but eventually they will come back because of the fact the neighborhood is stable. Um-hum. The crime ratio here

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is not. Not half as high as it is in other areas, um. A lot of, uh, the black people moved south and I think this is where big crime picked up in the south. Uh, there's not too much going on in this area. It's, it's quiet

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and so there's not much activities. Uh, what kind of employment did you seek after you arrived here in Kansas City after you came? So, well. There is a program they have in, uh, at Rich by Air Force Base that is called the ARP program. Uh, a

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reserve technician. Uh, at that time, I was a staff sergeant and qualified for a job, uh, with the art program. Uh, later, uh. McNamara, who was Secretary of Defense. Uh, began to abolish quite a few jobs. And the job in which I held was one of

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the jobs that was abolished. Um. So, I went to the life insurance business with one of the, am I, am I allowed to name companies? Yes, sir. OK. Uh, I went to life insurance business with Mammoth Life Insurance Company. Uh, and I had a tenure with

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them something like 3 years. I left Mammoth Life because of, uh, pay and, uh, the increase of the cost of living and went to Lake City for one year. Then I came back and I stayed with Supreme Life Insurance. I came back to Supreme Life Insurance

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Company, and there I stayed for a period of 4 years. Oh, well. Incidentally, uh, these, uh, the two companies named were black companies who were doing business, uh, in Kansas, Missouri trying to bring to the black man a better type of life insurance than what the

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white man had to offer at that time. Uh, can you attribute the fact of, uh, very little or smaller, smaller salary to the fact that they were, were they sort of young or in their virgin stage at that time, infancy stage. No, not necessarily, but, uh,

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at that time, uh, a lot of the blacks were orientated to a particular type of life insurance. Uh, they didn't refer to it as life insurance per se. They referred to it as a, as a, a, um, Referred to it as a, um, funeral expenses, or.

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Um-hum. Uh, death insurance. Um-hum. And when, uh, we came, we talked about living insurances. Um-hum. Uh, insurance that, that you can use while you're living and you have to die to collect. Um-hum. And this is a brand new type bag for a lot of black people

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in the area, uh, and, It was a problem to present a package because they didn't quite understand what we were talking about. Um. Once we got our foot into the door, uh, we began to explain to them what we were talking about and subsequently they began

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to buy. Um-hum. Mm Now, I can, from, from, uh, but once you got the equipment door, I can, I can tell you that this goes on over to Supreme Life. Right. This is when we finally, we finally begin to, uh, kind of, uh, nurse you. OK.

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Yes. And Supreme Life was a very different company at that time because of the fact, uh, Supreme Life, so a combination of insurance. Uh-huh. Uh, they said, uh, we have people, uh, in our, um, Uh, group who will buy, uh, The borough insurance. Um-hum. Uh, we,

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uh, because they have, they are in 11 income bracket, and there's those in the, in the middle income bracket who can afford another type, and those in the high income bracket can afford another type. OK. So, we sold an insurance to meet all needs. And this

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is one of the reasons I stay with them, um. I think Supreme Life is just gonna now some like the 2nd or 3rd largest black. Insurance company in the world today. Do you think that, uh, how long were you with Supreme Life? Uh, I was with

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Supreme Life about 3.5 years as district manager. Of the Kansas City, uh, district. And what did that, uh, district entail? Uh, it, it entails something like, um, Uh, $4000 weekly debit. Uh, it has something like a $5000 ordinary debit. And What we call now PNO and

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we used to call it ASP where you pay monthly, quarterly, and semiannually something like 25,000. Uh, Thinking in terms of uh growth. Uh, At what point did this at this point, uh, Supreme rights grow, uh, since it has grown to be the 2nd or 3rd largest,

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what, what, what stage was it at the time that you were? this Well, I think it was about, I think it was right around number 6 or probably, probably number 8. Um-hum. So we like to, uh, I've been noticing in some of the interviews how people

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have actually really caused A great deal of growth just by their presence in certain positions in certain places. Well, uh, this, this is probably true, but, uh, the Supreme is different. Uh, they had, they, they, they brought in a young man named John H. Johnson, who

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is now, uh, uh, owner and publisher of Ebony magazines, Johnson Products, and, uh, several other enterprises. Uh, he who was somewhat astute, uh, because he started to make, uh, grassroots with Supreme Life Insurance Company, uh, decided that, uh, it should be an ongoing thing and a

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moneymaking operation. Um-hum. And, uh, when he, uh, Took over the helm of Supreme life. This is when supreme life began to grow in leaps and bounds. Um, did you know, uh, do you know Mr. Johnson? Ah, yes, I was reading an article uh recently where. Uh,

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other companies were being given, uh, Uh, certain considerations by the, uh, Food and Drug Administration. You mean franchises? No, uh, like they would stop, They stopped him from selling certain products because of an additive that was in the product uh early and they allowed this other,

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I think it was Avon or some other, you know, big company to kind of continue on for another year doing the same thing. Well, you know, uh, you know the pressures that we've been through, uh, this is nothing new, you know, we've gone through this from

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the cotton fields of Mississippi and the, and the, the banks of, uh, Louisiana and. The crocodiles and the gator tail and that type of thing. Uh, here's a black man who's successful, let's be honest about it, OK. Uh, if it wasn't that, it be something else

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like the, uh, uh, uh, the Food and Drug Administration. They, they, they, they all, they, they always looking into things to, to better, to, to betterment the people in general, uh. Oftentimes it's not true. Some of the things they later have to republish and say we

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made, we made a mistake. Um-hum. Uh, and that type of thing. Uh, but I think, uh, Johnson Publishing Company has a, uh, or Johnson product, uh, can hire some of the better people. Um-hum. Who are qualified to do anything. And uh if there's a flaw involved,

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if he's knowledgeable of it, he'll eliminate it himself and the Food and Drug Administration won't have to do anything. Yeah, I think he's, uh, I really think he's a beautiful fellow. How long, let's see, how long were you with Supreme Life? Uh, I think my 10

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year was something like 3 1/2. And then where did you, uh, where did you go from there? Well, I'd like to clarify this also. My reason for leaving Spring Light was not a monetary type thing. Um-hum. Uh, it was a situation whereby, um, Uh, I had

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a sick wife who could not, uh, afford to have me come to the house so often, uh, I couldn't give her the time that she needed during the period of her illness. So, uh, I submitted my resignation. Uh, they accepted it with, uh, the, uh, with,

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with the possibilities, hey, uh, if you want to, you can come back. Uh, our supreme Life Insurance Company now is still very dear to me, uh. So, uh, I talked with my wife's doctor at that time, and he advised me that I should get into a

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business where provider would throw me with her even more so. Um-hum. Uh, I knew a fellow while I was, I knew, I met a fellow while I was at the risk of an Air Force base by the name of Van Cooper. Uh, later I learned that

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he, at that time, With um. President of Southeast State Bank. I went to him and talked with him about a job. Uh, we went over the old type thing like, uh, I know you and you know me, and I was hired. Um-hum. I went to work

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for, uh, Southeast State Bank at that time, um, No one at Southeast State Bank. I think it was 1960. 83. So, now, doing the, uh, you were mentioning your wife's illness, um. How did this, you know, come to about, what kind of, uh, effect did this

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have, besides you having to change jobs, uh? Well, she had rheumatic, she had to put this, put this note, I think, uh, I'm a layman as far as medical terminology is concerned, but I think it's called rheumatic fever. Uh-huh. OK. Uh, so, uh, Being by being

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away from hurts, uh, so much, uh, and working so hard to provide a living, uh, for the two of us. Uh, Necessitated me being from the home quite a bit, uh, days and nights. Um-hum. Subsequently, uh, Women are somewhat prone to believe that a man is

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not always in the field working. So, rather than to give her that type of, uh, complex, uh, I coincide with what the doctor said, and I, uh, sought employment elsewhere. Uh, it was, uh, somewhat disheartening to leave, uh, The field of life insurance because it was

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a field that I had a great deal of concern for. I had a great deal of, uh, love for because I felt a need to educate the black person from the old type of, uh, understanding of, uh, burial plans. Um-hum. Uh, I hated to go into,

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into banking because I thought I would lose a lot of prestige. I thought, uh, uh, my friends would forsake me. It was a new field to me. Um-hum. And, uh, It it it it somewhat perplexed me. Uh, after my first year in the business. Uh, I

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learned that I had, uh, accumulated more friends. I was able to help the black people in a different aspect. Uh, I could say, um, uh, different aspect and as a vital aspect. As I was doing with the life insurance business. Mhm. How were you, uh, inspired?

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Uh, see. I know we're at the point of uh of your president, and I'd like to, you know, if you had. Uh, Desire, uh, so far to be helpful in your employment, not only were you concerned with, uh, you know, uh, jobs and so forth, but

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you were concerned with helping black people. So how were you inspired, what is it that that has prompted you to want to, you know, do these kind of things? Everybody's not uh doesn't have that concern. Well, first of all, uh, I, I, I, I like to

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be involved. Uh, to the hilt and whatever I'm doing. Uh, when I first went to, uh, Southeast State Bank at this, it's called Dan, uh, for, uh, later it was named Stadium Bank. I found there were so many black people who, who only had a knowledge

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of banking that was very limited who had, uh, money, uh, and when I'm talking about money, I'm talking about, uh, above and beyond the $100 saving account and $50 checking account. Uh, I'm talking about people who Who were walking, walking the streets who, uh, came to

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the bank and we talked about, uh, 100 12 130 140 150 $20,000. Um-hum. Uh, and they had, uh, 100 12 $12,000 in checking accounts. Um-hum. Uh, they had savings accounts with $35,000 or $40,000. There were CDs, took a deposit. They didn't know anything about it. Uh,

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it became a fun type thing. Uh, here again, I had another opportunity to, to, to orientate my black people, uh, uh, my folk, uh, how to, how to invest their money, how to invest their money that would pay them the greatest amount of interest. Why carry

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$5000 in a checking account when it's, when it's not doing any good, it's just sitting there, you know, uh. These are some of the things that, that overwhelmed me. These are the things that gave me enthusiasm and later, uh, I became involved, I came as involved

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with banking as I was in insurance. Uh, the enthusiasm was just about the same, and now I think it's even more so because now blacks were making more money, but they still need to know how to invest. Uh, at one point, at some point, uh, in

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your life, you became a single man and uh. How's life, you know, how's this this affected your life? Um, your work and so forth. Normally I would say that, uh, I'm glad you asked the question. Uh, it's a morbid type thing, but, uh, 6 years have

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gone by, so, uh, I think I'm able to talk with you and, and, and give you a brief resume of how I feel now. Um-hum. Uh, to me, marriage is one of the great institutions. Um-hum. Uh, I have no, I, I don't go along with the

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idea of, uh, a lot of trial marriages. I don't go along with the idea of the, of the, People living together per se um. I think young men and young women, uh, especially our people should have the dignity. To, uh, To, to, to join together and

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promote, uh, what we stand for, uh, if you notice I smile and I because I started to say what we supposed to stand for, I suppose is, is a word that, uh, that adds to, but what we are to stand for. Um, too long have we,

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we've gone along with the fact that Because what we see other people do, you want to be a part of this. I think we should take God into our confidence and, uh, pray that, uh, we will receive divine guidance that our lives will become something and

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not a part of something. Mhm. Uh. To being single is not all fun and games. Uh, I've heard from a lot of bachelors that, uh, I wouldn't be married anymore. I think, uh, if I met the right girl, I would marry her tomorrow. Hm. That's a

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very, uh, Very tricky area at this point in in in the history of black people because uh that family unit is so important to the growth of our community. I think uh we can we can see how we came from maybe 21 families that finally ended

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up alive here to 30 well up upwards from 25 million. OK. So, uh, Uh, And you have a very deep feeling about that uh as I can see from your expressions. In the family, how do you feel about the way that things are going now? Uh,

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The the the the the way things are going now, they they they bug me somewhat. Uh, the black man and the black woman are not too concerned about, uh, tomorrow, you know, it's a day to day type thing whereby we live for today and tomorrow take

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care of itself. Uh, we, we, we're saying, you know, like, uh, we, the, the children that we, we beget, uh, let somebody else handle them, you know, like let, let them learn from the schools, uh, let them learn from the churches. But I believe that uh

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in order to rear any child. Uh, the basics come from home. Yeah Are you, you, uh, confronted very much with the results, uh, uh, is it, Do you have very much contact with the kind of results that they, uh, Coming about because of the negligence, you

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know, on the part of the parents as a banker. Uh, somewhat. Um, and, and I'm sure you ran into the same situation whereby, um, and I can say this about all, well, not all blacks, but I'd say the majority of the blacks, we become very angry

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and we're ignorant about a fact or fact talk. Uh, nothing seemed to perturb us anymore. Than to be told that we are wrong and we have no way to refute it. Mhm. Uh, in banking, I find that, uh, uh, I had an opportunity to sit down

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and talk with. Uh, people of all caliber, and explained it to them the rudiments of banking. Uh, in our bank now, Southeast State Bank, uh, well, Stadium Bank Southeast office, we're, we're going into a program to educate the black man on different facets of banking. Uh,

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you'd be surprised to know. The black people today who are not knowledgeable of making out a, Deposit slip for checking who are really not knowledgeable of writing a check. Who are completely, uh, uh, I would like to use a good word, but I can't think of

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one dumbfounded, uh, and, and, and, and In balancing their statement, uh, they say, well, the banks, uh, we pay the banks to do, uh, X number of things, and this is true, but the cost of banking itself is continuously rising, so you can't anymore have an

00:28:25.489 - 00:28:46.290

officer, uh, of a bank to say, well, OK, I'll analyze your statement for you. Uh, this can't, this is not done. So, uh, I talked with, uh, Reverend Abel. At Palestine Baptist Church, I have almost persuaded Reverend Briscoe at Passa Baptist Church, uh, my pastor, Rabbi

00:28:46.290 - 00:29:09.219

H. Henderson at Frenchton Baptist Church, that we got to do something about it. We got to stop talking about it. And so we have a program underfoot now to educate our people of the different aspects in Viking. I think, uh, there's another, uh, Religious organization that

00:29:09.219 - 00:29:25.930

would be very much interested in, uh, In the uh program that you're talking about, that's the uh the mosque, Mohammad Mosque, and that's your problem. Um. After we talk, uh, finish our interview, I think, uh, we can talk on that a little bit. OK, this is

00:29:25.930 - 00:29:49.099

fine. Uh, you see, We, we're not limited, uh, to, to, to any area or any group, uh, no, no, because, see, here's the thing, you know, like, uh. The, the, the Chinese people, if I'm saying it right, or should I say Chinese, or the Japanese, uh,

00:29:49.229 - 00:30:04.270

they, they migrate to America, you know, and they have to be placed in different jobs or, or various jobs or be sent back to their home country, you know, but we as blacks, we don't have anything going, you know, uh, uh, uh, I can't say, hey,

00:30:04.430 - 00:30:33.329

come from, uh, Norfolk, Virginia to Kansas City, and I can set you up into a job. There's no. Hey. Man, you are never. Successful or you will never be successful unless you can have someone in life succeed. Uh, and I agree wholeheartedly. Are there, what, uh,

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prompted, For you to become interested in setting up such a program or what, what, what, what, where did the light come and where did you see your freedom to get into that? Well, uh, first of all, we have a small foyer, the first of the month

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we are very crowded. Um, We have a lot of uh Senior citizens in this particular area. Um. Uh, And They come in, uh, they need help, and it, it, it, and, and, it, it antagonized me because I can't give them the help that they rightfully deserve,

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and I'm, I'm fearful that, uh, uh, for one reason or another they'll make a mistake or something might go wrong. Uh, we teach them to. Use the bank. Uh, instead of the bank using them by depositing that money in the bank, writing checks. Uh, one great,

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uh. One thing that has been a great help to us is the Social Security uh automatic mailing system. I worked with uh Abbott. Uh, Albert Anderson with crime prevention. Uh, with the program as far as, uh, trying to help senior citizens. Uh, we, we try to

00:31:57.459 - 00:32:19.739

do everything we possibly can to eliminate the crime in this area. Uh And this and this, and this is a problem that we must face. That's. Today, you know, today no one is safe. Uh, yesterday, a woman was safe, a woman was unsafe on the street.

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Today a man is no safer than a woman is today. Uh, and it's not given to Kansas City primarily. It's given on a nationwide basis. You hear about it, uh, uh. All over the country Um And all over the state, but, uh, it's here, uh, I

00:32:42.880 - 00:33:01.310

think, uh, we as a poverty stricken nation. Uh, to a degree, uh, we, we, we like to live like, uh, John Doe, but, uh, we're not qualified to earn the same type of pay John Doe does. Uh, I can remember when I was in high school,

00:33:03.829 - 00:33:20.689

Taking typing, which has been an asset to me now, which is an asset to me now. We had something like maybe 20 students taking typing. We had 5 typewriters and when in the white schools they had something like uh 5 students taking typing and 20 typewriters.

00:33:25.689 - 00:33:50.260

So, you see, we have, A lot to catch up to. And it's going to take today it's going to take one after the other if you're going to have succeed in any effective the way banking. Life insurance marketing. Service stations. You name it. It, it, it

00:33:50.260 - 00:34:20.938

really intrigues me to, to, it really intrigued me to talk to a student who's in college. Uh, they talk about teaching. Uh, teaching is a good field. It's OK, but the money is in other fields. Um, It's very interesting. Uh. The way the. You know, you

00:34:20.938 - 00:34:47.120

really focus how. A banker in banking, uh, Goes into the moral portion of the community also. Uh, now, you speaking of other fields. Uh, that were more important or lucrative, more lucrative, uh, could you kind of, uh, give me some insight? Well, Uh, I, I would,

00:34:47.199 - 00:35:13.620

I would hate to pinpoint one primarily. Uh, at one time, at one stage of the game was computing. Now, everybody's talking about, uh, computers, we're going to computer. OK, now the field is now, uh, the new field is marketing, uh. Business administration. Aero aerodynamics of aerospace.

00:35:15.050 - 00:35:30.879

Uh, these are some of the fields that, that are paying the, the, the pay is, is, is a little bit higher than it is in teaching. Now, I'll say this. If we are going into the field of teaching as a profession because we want to be

00:35:30.879 - 00:35:49.739

dedicated to helping them to help to help our people in various aspects, good. This is what we need dedicated people who were who were in the field for the sake of helping. But, uh, uh, for be it for me to say, uh, I'm in banking because

00:35:49.739 - 00:36:04.070

of the fact that I, I make a fantastic salary. Uh, I like banking. Uh, I like it because the fact it put me in contact with people, uh, who haven't share the knowledge that I have that I have ascertained through the medium of schools and what

00:36:04.070 - 00:36:37.929

have you, the medium of civic experience. Now, uh, I bank with Stadium Bank. Uh, because of the fact that, uh, uh, I worked there. 12 is because the fact he's an honest bank. I would, uh, Could you elaborate on Wow. Uh, in addition to the fact

00:36:37.929 - 00:37:01.840

that it has, uh, mind such as yours that is. Sitting and really looking openly at the situation that it really is. See the need. Overall. Why is it? Prices like basic income. Why does it cause you to describe it as an honest because With a tenue

00:37:01.840 - 00:37:20.270

of just about 8 days. It puts you into, it put you into a realm of knowing all of these facets. It puts you into a realm of knowing. Where money can go. And money is not like water. Uh, it can't disappear into the ground. It has

00:37:20.270 - 00:37:50.979

to show up someplace. Right. So a bank cannot say I lost your $100,000 or I lost you $1. It had, there has to be a pocket for it. Um-hum. And when I mean a pocket, I mean a place for it to go. So, You can see.

00:37:52.110 - 00:38:08.629

This this reference to it as being an honest thing, it means that you can see that every facet of the brain. Really open in family. Oh, yes. Uh, you know, like a full time we had, uh, uh, auditors come in, you know, like the bank had

00:38:08.629 - 00:38:29.169

an auditing company to come in and it was audited and booked, ordered the book, uh, periodically. Now we have FDIC, Who are very strict, uh, and they have the state examiners. Uh, I think something like, well, I, I think we ordered something like twice a year.

00:38:30.189 - 00:38:53.949

OK. Uh, at least 3 times a year, we have to have a call. Uh, ran in the paper and a call is, uh, a statement like as of June 30th. 1976. What are your assets against your liabilities? Where's all your money, you know. And this is

00:38:53.949 - 00:39:20.709

once a week? No, no, no. Once. Once every, once a, once every three months. Once every three months? And then there is an unexpected call that you might get. And then you have the coast also. Now, did you, when you first came into the back? vice

00:39:20.709 - 00:39:51.419

president. Oh no. Uh, I'm glad you asked that question. Uh, I came in as a, Bank teller in training. Um I took a, uh, Tremendous cut. For my present salary. To come into banking. Uh, how long did you have to assume that that role as a

00:39:51.419 - 00:40:17.939

teller? I think it was about 13 months. Ah, then I got promoted to, uh, Assistant cashier. I think I said assistant cashier, like I know I did. I stayed assistant cashier for two years. In the United States, I've been promoted to vice president. No, I'm promote

00:40:17.939 - 00:40:40.500

to assistant vice president. And I think, uh, 2 years ago I was promoted to Les. And then Over the, uh, let's see, you came into the bank around 68. I think that was the the time that that was, Quite a bit of unre because of certain

00:40:40.500 - 00:41:07.909

circumstances that existed. Really aroused me normal consequence. And Um, black people were able to. Move into different facets, especially in our community, faster than Probably before that time. Um, and coming in, uh, and, and being promoted, you know, do you see, uh, any of these factors?

00:41:10.229 - 00:41:32.409

Much to do. With you. Know, kind of the promotions that you got do you have this, this year, I accept. Well, Uh, you, again, I like, I, I like being truthful. I think that, uh, because of Doctor King. Uh, this came about. But I would like

00:41:32.409 - 00:41:51.959

to believe. Because of my, uh, drive. And uh my uh ability to try to prepare myself. This was an intricate part of it, but, uh, I think that a black man today, no matter who he is, failed to recognize the fact, uh, the work that Martin

00:41:51.959 - 00:42:11.479

Luther King did, uh, and say he put himself by his shoe strap, put himself by his bootstraps without, uh, I think he's only fooling himself. Uh, those long marches back in Alabama. Uh, those insults that he took and what have you, uh, I think today is

00:42:11.479 - 00:42:31.389

still paying off. Uh, I think, Uh, also that the fact that a black man now at this day and time, and I'm talking about October 14th, 1976, he does a lot of bravery training in the morgue. Now he has to not only be black, he has

00:42:31.389 - 00:42:55.179

now he has to be smart and be qualified. The right side. Right. Uh, Was there a changeover um in the banking uh in the bank in Southeast State Bank at that time in terms of the kind of personnel? Coloration. Well, not necessarily. Uh, when I came

00:42:55.179 - 00:43:25.469

there, uh, they had, uh, Be here. Three other blacks there. But I was the only black male. They had no black officer per se. So, um You know, I can imagine that, uh, To qualify for. The affirmative, affirmative action committee type thing. This could have been.

00:43:26.179 - 00:43:44.679

Uh, an avenue that they use. Um-hum. Uh, but I like to think now, And I like to be a positive thinker. I like to think, man, that since I've attended the, the American Institute of Banking, since I have, uh, Learn through hard knocks the rudiments of

00:43:44.679 - 00:44:03.800

banking. You might think that. Not only to work at that bank but to work at any bank, uh, I like to think now that if I had the money. The money was made available. That I could operate an all-black bank, uh, not necessarily being a model

00:44:03.800 - 00:44:20.260

or not necessarily saying I would like for it to be a black bank per se, but I'm talking about a bank like Bentley State, uh. A bank like, uh, Atlantic Bank in Norfolk, Virginia. Uh, I think if, if, if we had 4 other banks right here

00:44:20.260 - 00:44:38.010

in Missouri that was, uh, uh, that was owned and operated by black folks, uh, it wouldn't hurt one damn bit. What did you see? How do you see, uh, us, uh, getting to that point? I know there are a lot of. That is a lot of

00:44:38.010 - 00:45:04.090

money. Yeah. Well, well, first of all, we're here again, we, we, we have to overcome something that was done, uh, before your time and my time, uh, You know, like At this time, This is not the first time we had black people in the White House.

00:45:04.830 - 00:45:29.500

Uh, they were there during the reconstruction days. But only the literate blacks were put into offices, OK. Uh, and they were to serve a purpose and that. Only. But I'm talking about at this particular time, uh, We need to, uh, uh, if, if, if we had

00:45:29.500 - 00:45:53.030

the money, and I, I, I forget what it is now, I think it's 1,100,000. Or 11,000. To start a bank. I think this is what FDIC is requiring now. We have qualified people. Uh, that we wouldn't, we wouldn't necessarily have to proselyte. Per se. So they

00:45:53.030 - 00:46:09.780

can say, hey man, uh, we got something going, you know, and we can help our own cause. I think this would be a, I, I think I, I, in fact, I knew it would be a workable thing. So, you see, uh, The kind of growth or

00:46:09.780 - 00:46:35.219

the kind of thing is necessary is, is, is coming from ourselves to an answer to such uh such kind of things. Very definitely, but there's still skepticism. Because I'm sure you're aware of what has happened in Missouri, uh, With one of the, uh, Uh Loan companies

00:46:35.800 - 00:46:54.780

or, and one of the banks here, that's, that's skepticism. Uh, it's something we would have to overcome. It's something we have to eradicate, uh, to get rid of that. Um-hum. But, uh, Uh, and things, uh, uh, Break down because of, uh, People who are not experienced

00:46:54.780 - 00:47:09.469

or who don't expect certain things to happen and they happen, they don't know how to cope with them. Uh, not to name banks because I'm in banking, but we have a situation right here in Missouri now, and I'll show you a way of it, uh. There

00:47:09.469 - 00:47:24.629

was a loan company down at 19th Street, and I'm still not calling names, but I'm sure you heard about that. Uh, you're younger than I am, but by the same token you might have heard of it. OK, so, uh, these things hurt, you know, uh, we

00:47:24.629 - 00:47:45.540

said we'll never trust another black as long as we live, and, uh. That's hurting because like you should. Um-hum. Uh, because you're prone to make mistakes. Because we were never given the opportunity to understand all the rudiments of nothing. Um-hum. We were told what they wanted

00:47:45.540 - 00:48:10.689

us to know, and that was it. Um. Um, I think also. It's The, the, the, you know, the kind of the, the, uh, the ambulance, Yeah, We almost the people who were uh running some of them were just were put there because as a token right

00:48:10.689 - 00:48:33.030

because of name or something like this rather than dealing with the man. But, um, Know that probably, They are. Well, I don't, I don't know, probably, I know. Qualifying people. In our city that We were probably overlooked because they didn't have a glamour and so forth

00:48:33.030 - 00:48:47.189

that was there so I don't think that that was that even those things were in there were doing it for our community. And I think since we were talking about the community supporting such a thing, you know, I think it, it would definitely, Go into a

00:48:47.189 - 00:49:09.399

different life. A. Uh, I agree wholehearted, and today the black man is still, still saying, hey, uh, train. Hey, show me how. Hey, teach me. But you have to understand his plea. Uh, he will not come in and say to you and say, Hey, look, I

00:49:09.399 - 00:49:27.639

don't understand this. I can't do this, uh, and I, and I never knew how to do this. He'll come to you with things like, Hey, you're wrong, man. 101 is not 2. 10 1 is 3. OK, you prove me wrong. Prove him wrong, he'll go, he'll

00:49:27.639 - 00:49:45.449

leave you and the next person he'll come to, he'll tell them that 101 is 2, and that's the gospel because you told him. This way it has been, and this way it has always been. Uh, only until we went to the universities, uh, the colleges, and

00:49:45.449 - 00:50:05.800

learned for ourselves that 1 and 1 is 22 and 2 is 4, and we can prove it. Had we accepted it, but there's still the old generation who came from the old school still believes that I'll pay $1.25 a week. For a borough plan rather than

00:50:05.800 - 00:50:35.909

pay $1 rather than pay $4 a month for a whole life program. Mhm. Now, could you, uh, just. Tell us, uh, uh, some of the future that you see in the banking, uh, And back and forth on black people. OK, uh, one of the things that

00:50:35.909 - 00:50:54.350

I see that will happen in the community is this, this school that we're having at, uh, Palestine Baptist Church. To be an asset. To the people in the community. Uh, as far as knowledge and banking is concerned, uh, the course that we will probably, the course

00:50:54.350 - 00:51:13.310

that we teach will probably last something like 8 or 10 weeks, and it's open to the public. Um We will talk about Savings account, we talk about checking account, we talk about stipul deposits where we talk a little bit about Fed funds, we talk about a

00:51:13.310 - 00:51:33.580

little bit about overnight investments. Uh, we'll talk about how the bank uh Earning his own earn his money in overnight investments and that type of thing, uh. We will talk about how important it is to maintain a certain balance. We will talk about free checking. We'll

00:51:33.580 - 00:51:51.379

talk about personalized checks. We we're gonna go into a conglomerate of things that will give everybody in the community a knowledge of the of how the bank is investing their money and What the bank gets out of their investment. You see, right now, uh, we have

00:51:51.379 - 00:52:09.179

a lot of small accounts, small accounts in the area. Uh And because the first of the month, uh, we have long lines, a lot of people figure that area is, is, is, is, uh, Basically earning a lot of money but you know like uh in the

00:52:09.179 - 00:52:31.370

course of 5 days. From the 1st to the 5th of the month, uh, we pay out something like $145,000. Yeah. I could say more or less, but it's probably more, uh, and all it is is check cashing. To people who are on welfare, Social Security, ADC,

00:52:31.689 - 00:52:46.959

or what have you, OK, it means that we have to buy money from the Federal Reserve Bank. It means that it's there and we can't use it because, uh, it's there to pay to cash checks. The checks have to go out. And be paid through the

00:52:46.959 - 00:53:01.739

Federal Reserve system. This money we could be using on that investment, but we can't use it because money, the same money can't do two things at the same time. So there in the area, we're more or less rendering a service. Now, I don't mean that we're

00:53:01.739 - 00:53:20.429

not earning a profit. But what I'm saying, if things were of a different nature. You need to learn, you can earn it. of a greater profit and this is not a complaint. Uh, we, we, we are really there to serve the community. Uh But we have

00:53:20.429 - 00:53:40.169

to eliminate, uh, We eliminate some of the cans because They're not profitable, and what I mean not profitable, uh, is the fact that they're there for check cashing privileges and check check check cashing privileges alone. So what we, so what we intend to do is to

00:53:40.169 - 00:53:54.610

orientate our people, uh, let them know what we are up against. Let them know what we expected, what we expect of them, and tell them that what, what they can expect from us. Uh, one of the next projects we're gonna run into is a suggestion box.

00:53:55.580 - 00:54:18.919

And I think very few banks. Have suggestion boxes whereby the community. Can tell the bank what they would like to have. Uh, Southeast State Bank is not only a bank, it's a centralized meeting place. I see people from churches, people from fraternal organizations. People from clubs

00:54:18.919 - 00:54:31.649

and what have you, what have you, they meet and greet. Each other in the bank. And they get, they get in a little car and have a little private conversation. Have you seen Sally? Uh, did you know John had a new car. Um-hum. Uh, the only

00:54:31.649 - 00:54:52.080

thing I'm sorry about is that we don't have to, the bank is not structured per se, in a way where everybody get more people into the lobby and have great conversations. Go. Hm Do you think that, uh, uh, It, uh, more banks will, uh, it's bringing

00:54:52.080 - 00:55:09.330

up their, You You think this is a concept of the future? I hope so. I hope so. I was talking with, uh, A fellow from an organization, I guess about a year ago. He made, he made mention the fact that there's a possibility that his organization

00:55:09.330 - 00:55:27.610

might, uh, for the bank here in state of Missouri. I think his home, uh, his, his The home office was out of Chicago and that was a good possibility. If this be the case, it'd be nice, it'd be good. It'd be something different. We, we need

00:55:27.610 - 00:55:53.719

to come into our own. Not being impartial, but the, but the, but the Italians do it. The Chinese do it, the Japanese do it, the Dutch. Uh, the Jews, everybody. But, but, but, but as of now we have learned to completely trust one another. Hm. If

00:55:53.719 - 00:56:20.729

we climb the ladder to success, we should periodically look back. And see whose shows that we're stepping on, uh, and we should wonder if that same shower will be there to assist us when we're coming back down. That's great. Um, Some. Your, uh, meetings and some

00:56:20.729 - 00:56:42.469

of your classes that you had at Charleston. Do you feel that, that, uh, Uh, we have hopes to eventually take these classes all over the city so. Is your goal to really educate the entire community. Yeah, uh, to answer your question, it is to educate the

00:56:42.469 - 00:57:01.389

entire community. But what we would have to do is, uh, set up a focal form. We would have to uh get other churches involved. Because I see, I, I, I see this as a blooming type thing, you know, like, not being impartial, but at first I

00:57:01.389 - 00:57:20.469

thought it would be geared primarily for the people at Southeast Bank, but in the, in the inner city, in the immediate area that's that. Because, uh, Uh And then they're not gonna be give primarily to blacks, but that's not gonna work. Because, uh, under the umbrella,

00:57:21.389 - 00:57:45.530

That we're going to spread, everybody will have an opportunity. I think this goes back to, uh, some of the things that we, in the same thing. We haven't gone through the kind of uh situations. Have within us concepts that are really beneficial to the entire community

00:57:45.669 - 00:58:08.459

and to the entire world. Um, Do you see that kind of, uh, Thought in the minds of people in terms of. able to Expand themselves rather than lend themselves to us because it starting with us and going out. Well, yes. Do you think that we have

00:58:08.760 - 00:58:30.199

something to offer? To the, the world, and. Very, very definitely, uh, you know, um, Into, and, and, and to, to sort of browse around into different areas. Um, it was quite intriguing to, uh, To go down to the Italian festival, it was quite intriguing to go

00:58:30.199 - 00:58:43.719

down to the other festivals, when we had the festival down at, uh, Crown Center, it was more intriguing because in fact, we do have something to offer. Um, uh, you know, like they, they like to, uh, when I say they, I'm talking about, uh, and I

00:58:43.719 - 00:59:03.179

hate to use the word inferior, but the other, the other nationalities, uh. Uh, They're not aware of uh the things that the arts and what have you that we have to, uh, that that we have to show, uh, they're not aware of what the, what, what,

00:59:03.229 - 00:59:19.870

what the American Negro or the American black can do today, you know, uh, uh, at one time, I think somebody wrote a book. To explain to the uh the other nationalities what we meant when we say a white old man or what we meant when we

00:59:19.870 - 00:59:36.790

say Nero my God to thee, uh, uh, because there was a gap. But there was a void because in fact nobody took the time to teach the other person how we felt and how we thought. I was talking to uh. Uh, probably not too long ago.

00:59:37.169 - 00:59:54.909

And, uh, he said, hey, you know, like I never had the, The, the, the thought that, uh, somebody from your race, uh, Could come up with something like this or could who thought like that, you know, because the fact that I was born and raised in

00:59:54.909 - 01:00:11.989

a different type of atmosphere altogether. But after listening to you and and this other fellow talk, you know, I, I have a new perspective. This what's going to take, it's going to take, The black man leaving the brush and coming to the front and saying, hey,

01:00:12.110 - 01:00:21.350

look, I realize I'm black. I realize I have a brain. I realize that I have, uh, the same type of working tools in my profession that you have in yours.