Binga: The Rise and Fall of Chicago's First Black Banker
Don Hayner
Northwestern University Press
Jesse Binga arrived in Chicago in 1892 in his late twenties with virtually nothing. He rose to wealth and influence as a real estate broker, and in 1908 he founded the Binga Bank, the first Black-owned bank in the city -- but his success came at the price of a vicious backlash. Don Hayner recounts this gripping story about race, history, politics, and finance.