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Seaway Bank: A Legacy of Empowerment


Seaway Bank
at a Glance

Original Name: 
Seaway National Bank of Chicago

Founders: 
Ernest T. Collins
Moses J. Proffitt
local business men and women

Year Founded:
1965

Year of Merger with Self-Help Federal Credit Union:
2017

Original Founding Location: 
Chicago, Illinois (South Side)

This is the story of Seaway, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union. Seaway is a South Side Chicago financial institution that at its height rose to become America’s largest Black-owned bank. Beginning with its 1960s social justice and economic equality underpinnings, we trace Seaway Bank’s 52-year history through first-hand accounts, archival images, contemporary footage and narration. In doing so, we honor the achievements of an institution that invested in—and empowered—communities of Black people, making a lasting name for itself in the process.

 

Photo Gallery