page_title: Amalgamated Bank
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Amalgamated Bank / History
caption_attribution_description: English: This is the, possibly historic, plaque in the lobby of Amalgamated Bank's HQ at 275 7th Ave NYC
context_page_description: Amalgamated Bank is an American financial institution. It is the largest union-owned bank and one of the only unionized banks in the United States. Amalgamated Bank is currently majority-owned by Workers United, an SEIU Affiliate.
  Founded on April 14, 1923, by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, As of June 30, 2015, Amalgamated Bank has nearly $4 billion in assets. Through its Institutional Asset Management and Custody Division, Amalgamated Bank is one of the leading providers of investment and trust services to Taft-Hartley plans in the United States. The bank oversees over $45 billion in investment advisory and custodial services.
  In August 2018, Amalgamated Bank filed an Initial public offering and became publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the Ticker symbol "AMAL".
  Amalgamated Bank provides affordable and accessible banking to its customers, advocates for workers' rights, and promotes high standards of environmental, social and corporate governance practices. Amalgamated Bank clients include progressive individuals and organizations like presidential campaigns, labor unions and nonprofits.
context_section_description: On March 16, 1923, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America chartered the Amalgamated Bank of New York. On April 14, 1923, 1923, the bank opened it doors to the public on East 14th Street, Manhattan, nextdoor to a former site of Tiffany's on Union Square. Within a short time, 2,400 people had deposited $450,000 with the bank. Within weeks, it had to expand vertically onto two floor above in the same building. In the Liberator magazine, the bank advertised its ownership and operations by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. It listed chairman Hyman Blumberg, president R. L. Redheffer, vice president Jacob S. Potofsky, cashier Leroy Peterson, and other directors: Gold, Sidney Hillman, Max Lowenthal, August Bellanca, Fiorello H. La Guardia, Abraham Miller, Joseph Schlossberg, Murray Weinstein, Max Zaritzky, and Peter Monat.
  In 1927, Amalgamated Bank financed the Amalgamated Housing Cooperative, the first union-supported housing development in the United States, which is located in The Bronx.  In the late 1920s, Amalgamated Bank had a "Travel Department" that advertised "Visit Soviet Russia" in New Masses magazine.  In 1957, it financed the construction of Park Reservoir Housing Cooperative in the Bronx, which was the first affordable housing development created under New York State's Mitchell-Lama Housing Program.  Amalgamated has a long history of helping union movements. It once opened its bank vaults on a Saturday in order to provide $300,000 in bail for striking workers. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) received $800,000 to post a cash bond within 24 hours. In 1973, bank employees worked all weekend to keep striking Philadelphia teachers out of jail. In 1982, Amalgamated made a $200,000 loan to the striking National Football League Players Association despite the fact that they did not even have an account at the bank.
  In May 2018 Amalgamated merged with New Resource Bank of San Francisco.
  In August 2018 Amalgamated became a public company and filed for an initial public offering of stock to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol “AMAL.”
caption: Plaque in the Lobby of the Bank's Corp HQ
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