Allen, Eliza
c. 1840–1910 · Contribution: 1888
Only woman listed on the founding charter of the first chartered African American-owned bank in the United States

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Quick facts
- Category
- Business & Misc.
Impact on the world
At a moment when both her race and her sex were barred from the machinery of American banking, Allen's name on that charter marks the documented beginning of Black women's participation in the U.S. financial system.
An alternative history
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Sources
- Book or scholarly workFind
Columbia University Press, Shennette Garrett-Scott, 'Banking on Freedom: Black Women in U.S. Finance before the New Deal' (2019). [Note: this peer-reviewed monograph remains the sole substantive independent source naming Allen
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Baker, Henry E.
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