NORTH ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) -
When the FDIC announced a bank failure in north St. Louis Friday, a piece of history was lost. Gateway Bank is now "Central Bank of Kansas City". Gateway was a 44 year old institution near the corner of Union and Natural Bridge. It was the first minority-owned bank in Missouri. The FDIC described Gateway's demise as the 119th bank failure in the U.S. in 2009, and it did not make front page headlines. But its closure becomes more significant, when one revisits history and realizes that at one point, number 119 was really number one.
"We started in 1963," recalls George Montgomery, one of the founders of Gateway Bank. "A black person could not hardly get a home loan. You might get a car loan, but a home loan was almost like a no no here in this town."
"St. Louis had a rigid history of segregation," he recalls. And he was a part of that shameful time, attending separate schools, entering different doors for movies, being denied entry into amusement parks. But he had a vision of a better time.
In the middle of the civil rights movement, Montgomery and a small group of black men banded together, finding investors, and seeking guidance from leaders of the seven other black-owned banks in the United States. They applied to the federal government for the first-ever charter for a black-owned bank in Missouri.
"We had to justify. 'Why would you want a bank in St. Louis? Plenty of banks. Why you need a bank?' We said, 'Well there are no black banks. We want a black bank, we want to change the image of the community.'"
Montgomery recalls gaining the support of the chairman of the board of white-owned First National Bank of St. Louis. That chairman lent his staff and his guidance, and Gateway National Bank opened in 1965, born of determination, and cooperation between races.
"It was amazing how the white banking community took us under their wing," says Montgomery. "No attempt to railroad the idea, the business community even sent us accounts."
"Everyone was given a challenge. This could not fail. If it did fail, banking would be set back another 150 years in St. Louis."
It did not fail.
"It symbolized a change," he says.
Montgomery recalls the novelty of a minority-owned bank.
"It was something that was just never conceived. We used to have tours of children come through from schools, they'd come through the bank just to see a black bank. Black females and males behind the teller cages, loan officers. A bank."
"We wanted young African American males and females to see this."
Montgomery and many of the founders left Gateway in the 1980's. It changed hands, but retained the name. In 2006, the FDIC put Gateway on notice for being on shaky ground. Then Friday, it was taken over. FDIC spokesman Greg Hernandez says Central Bank of Kansas City will stay in the neighborhood. Central Bank understand the history and will continue to serve the local community, he says. The bank is also minority-owned, but by women, not African Americans.
Montgomery says the loss of Gateway is painful, but in some ways it was a victim of its own success.
"I think Gateway Bank was sort of the catalyst for integrating the banking system in St. Louis," he says. "You go into you go into branches of US Bank or Bank of America, you name the banks and they have black employees everywhere, that's not the way it was when Gateway opened," he says. "When black people started moving all over the county, there were branches right in their neighborhood, so there was no need to drive all the way down to Union to be a part of Gateway Bank, just go around the corner and there's a bank."
"It's gonna be a bitter pill for me to go by and not see Gateway up there. I hope they retain some African Americans from St. Louis at that bank. I really think that's going to be its legacy. And it's a sad day to see it come to this."
"We started in 1963," recalls George Montgomery, one of the founders of Gateway Bank. "A black person could not hardly get a home loan. You might get a car loan, but a home loan was almost like a no no here in this town."
"St. Louis had a rigid history of segregation," he recalls. And he was a part of that shameful time, attending separate schools, entering different doors for movies, being denied entry into amusement parks. But he had a vision of a better time.
In the middle of the civil rights movement, Montgomery and a small group of black men banded together, finding investors, and seeking guidance from leaders of the seven other black-owned banks in the United States. They applied to the federal government for the first-ever charter for a black-owned bank in Missouri.
"We had to justify. 'Why would you want a bank in St. Louis? Plenty of banks. Why you need a bank?' We said, 'Well there are no black banks. We want a black bank, we want to change the image of the community.'"
Montgomery recalls gaining the support of the chairman of the board of white-owned First National Bank of St. Louis. That chairman lent his staff and his guidance, and Gateway National Bank opened in 1965, born of determination, and cooperation between races.
"It was amazing how the white banking community took us under their wing," says Montgomery. "No attempt to railroad the idea, the business community even sent us accounts."
"Everyone was given a challenge. This could not fail. If it did fail, banking would be set back another 150 years in St. Louis."
It did not fail.
"It symbolized a change," he says.
Montgomery recalls the novelty of a minority-owned bank.
"It was something that was just never conceived. We used to have tours of children come through from schools, they'd come through the bank just to see a black bank. Black females and males behind the teller cages, loan officers. A bank."
"We wanted young African American males and females to see this."
Montgomery and many of the founders left Gateway in the 1980's. It changed hands, but retained the name. In 2006, the FDIC put Gateway on notice for being on shaky ground. Then Friday, it was taken over. FDIC spokesman Greg Hernandez says Central Bank of Kansas City will stay in the neighborhood. Central Bank understand the history and will continue to serve the local community, he says. The bank is also minority-owned, but by women, not African Americans.
Montgomery says the loss of Gateway is painful, but in some ways it was a victim of its own success.
"I think Gateway Bank was sort of the catalyst for integrating the banking system in St. Louis," he says. "You go into you go into branches of US Bank or Bank of America, you name the banks and they have black employees everywhere, that's not the way it was when Gateway opened," he says. "When black people started moving all over the county, there were branches right in their neighborhood, so there was no need to drive all the way down to Union to be a part of Gateway Bank, just go around the corner and there's a bank."
"It's gonna be a bitter pill for me to go by and not see Gateway up there. I hope they retain some African Americans from St. Louis at that bank. I really think that's going to be its legacy. And it's a sad day to see it come to this."
