Cancelled checks from Bank of Finance
date: label: Date
content: 1964
name: label: Issued by
content: Bank of Finance, American, 1964 - 1981
label: Subject of
content: Onie Burnett Granville, American, 1916 - 1998
notes: label: Caption
content: Founded by Onie B. Granville in 1964, the Bank of Finance was the first African American-owned and operated state chartered bank west of Kansas City. Granville, a long time real estate broker in Los Angeles, formed the institution with other prominent African American community leaders in Los Angeles: Los Angeles City Councilman and later mayor Tom Bradley, real estate broker Lorenzo Spencer, businessman Wilton A. Clark, and physicians Dr. Perry Beal and Dr. Edward Ballard. In the face of discriminatory housing and financial practices, the Bank of Finance played an important role in financing Black homeownership and businesses in the Los Angeles area until it was purchased by another bank in 1984.
label: Description
content: Two cancelled bank checks from The Bank of Finance in Los Angeles, California. The checks are pale blue with a faint pattern of wavy blue lines in the background. At the bottom left corner is the name of the bank, next to the bank logo. The logo consists of the capital letters "B / O / A" in an interlocking diagonal line with a rectangle with rounded sides. Above the bank name and logo is the printed phrase "Pay / to the / order of" with a handwritten name in the blank space. Check 2016.33.2.1 is for an amount of $22.20. Check 2016.33.2.2 is for an amount of $30. Each check is signed at the bottom by "Bernice Martin." Each check has a rectangular stamp on the front in red ink. Text along the top of the rectangle reads "Processed." The date "Dec 21 1964" is in the middle and the words "Bank of Finance" along the bottom. On the checks reverse are two illegible stamps in green. Each check is signed on the back by payee.
place: label: Place made
content: Los Angeles, California, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: American West
label: Topic
content: Business
label: Topic
content: Communities
label: Topic
content: Finance
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Documents and Manuscripts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Natalie Finney Mallard in memory of her Uncle Onie Burnett Granville
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2016.33.2.1-.2
objectType: label: Type
content: checks
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper (fiber product)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 2 3/4 × 6 in. (7 × 15.2 cm)