Did you know that the first credit union in the South started right here in Durham at Lowe’s Grove?
Above: Self-Help loans have provided capital for first-time homebuyers and businesses such as trucking companies, beauty salons, child care services, barber shops and restaurants. Photos by Bill Bamberger and courtesy of Self-Help.
Lowe’s Grove, located at the crossroads of Highway 54 and Alston Avenue, was a close-knit rural community. On January 20, 1916, farmers and local businessmen founded the Lowe’s Grove Credit Union with $29 combined (that’s $620 by today’s standards). This was the first credit union in the South and one of the first in the United States.
Before forming the credit union, farmers in Lowe’s Grove and all over the United States had difficulty borrowing money. Farmers were only paid once per year, when they harvested their crops. Between harvests, they had to borrow money at extravagant interest rates for fertilizer, seed, and other supplies. In the credit union system, the farmers could pool their own money and borrow from the group at much lower rates.
Left: Children lining up outside the Lowe’s Grove Credit Union. Credit unions encouraged children to save through youth programs. Image courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, Durham County Library.
Dial 919-246-9993 ext. 151 to hear a Lowe’s Grover talk about the tight-knit Lowe’s Grove community.
Early Credit Unions
In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson sent Durham banker John Sprunt Hill (pictured right) and others to Europe to study financial cooperatives: people pooling their money for their mutual benefit. Because people everywhere were suffering from high interest rates, communities in France, Spain, Italy, Canada, and New England were experimenting with financial cooperatives.
John Sprunt Hill wrote and lobbied for the McRae Rural Credits Act, which in 1915 became the sixth state credit union act passed in the US. Not long after, Lowe’s Grove Credit Union opened for business, followed soon after by a credit union in Bahama, in northern Durham County. By 1917 there were 14 credit unions in the state.
Dial 919-246-9993 ext. 152 to hear part of John Sprunt Hill’s speech.
Right: Image courtesy of Credit Union National Association Archives
Continuing the Legacy
Lowe’s Grove Credit Union closed in 1926, but the idea of the credit union was taking root across North Carolina. The State Employees Credit Union, today the second largest credit union in the country, was founded in 1937 with 12 members and $437. A branch of the State Employees Credit Union and a historical marker at NC 54 and Alston Avenue mark the spot of the first credit union in the South.
In the Jim Crow South, black-owned credit unions provided African Americans with loans at fair interest rates. By 1948, North Carolina had almost as many credit unions among rural African Americans as all other states combined.
Small, Local, and Personal
Credit Unions were home-grown affairs, typically run by volunteers out of their houses, businesses, schools and churches. The Mount Vernon Baptist Church Credit Union in Durham has maintained this small, personal quality. It is the smallest credit union in North Carolina and one of the smallest in the United States. Mount Vernon Baptist Church on Roxboro Road opened in 1948 with 35 members and $85. It currently has about 300 members.
Gwendella Clemons managed the credit union for over 42 years and the credit union used manual accounting systems until 2012.
Dial 919-246-9993 ext. 153 to hear about the Mount Vernon Baptist Church Credit Union
Background picture: Future credit union members at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in 1950, courtesy of Mount Vernon Baptist Church Credit Union.
Members of a credit union are required to have a “common bond” which can be a shared occupation, employer, or religious association. The Duke Credit Union and the Durham County Hospital Corporation Credit Union (now the Greater Piedmont Credit Union) formed in Durham as employer credit unions. Today, the common bond includes community ties such as a region.
Background: Duke Credit Union ad in the 1969 Duke Chronicle. Courtesy of University Archives, Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
Dial 919-247-9993 ext. 156 to hear about the Greater Piedmont Credit Union.
Self-Help Credit Union
Self-Help Credit Union started in Durham 1980 to assist worker-cooperative businesses. Founders Martin Eakes and Bonnie Wright partnered with laid-off textile workers to start and manage new businesses owned and run by local workers. These businesses needed loans to succeed and were often unable to get them.
Right: Founders Martin Eakes and Bonnie Wright. Photo by Bill Bamberger and courtesy of Self-Help Credit Union.
In 1984, with $77 from a bake sale organized through New Bern Bakery (pictured left), Eakes, Wright, and others founded Self-Help Credit Union and Self-Help Ventures Fund to provide loans to low-income people. Self-Help Credit Union has shifted its focus from worker-cooperatives to a range of financial services.
Left: New Bern Bakery employees, 1981. Photo Courtesy of Self-Help Credit Union.
Since 1984, Self-Help Credit Union has become a leader in community development and lending to low-income borrowers. They have provided more than $6.4 billion to over 87,000 families, individuals and organizations across the United States.
Background: In 1997, Self-Help Credit Union started the Walltown Homeownership Project in Durham. In 2010 they celebrated the 100th home renovated and sold. Pictured in Walltown: Luther Brooks (center, pastor of St. James Baptist Church) Congressman David Price (right), and Mark Pearce from Self-Help Credit Union (left). Photo by John Rottet, courtesy of the News & Observer and Self-Help Credit Union.
Latino Credit Union
A small group of community organizers started the Latino Credit Union in the 1990s to stem violent crimes against Latinos in Durham. Between 1990 and 2000, the Latino population in Durham grew by 374 percent. In Durham, Latinos found inexpensive housing with access to Triangle jobs. Latinos in Durham did not have easy access to banks; instead they kept their money in their wallets and in their homes. Criminals began profiling Latinos as “walking banks” and they were often robbed and mugged.
El Centro Hispano, formed in 1992 and the pillar of Durham’s Latino community, took action. They focused at first on law enforcement, but a breakthrough came when organizers turned their attention to banking. Starting a Latino bank required millions of dollars in investments. Instead, El Centro partnered with Self-Help and the State Employees Credit Union to start the Latino Credit Union, or Cooperativa Latina.
Background: Photo courtesy of the Latino Credit Union
The Latino Credit Union grew quickly, faster than any other credit union at that time. By 2010 it had 50,000 members and $100 million in assets. It has become an international model for credit unions serving immigrant populations.
Left: Patricia Guerrero poses with her family in May 2013 after graduating from the Financial Education Workshops program offered by the Latino Credit Union. Photo courtesy of the Latino Credit Union.
In 2011, Durham documentarian, Rodrigo Dorfman, created a great tribute about the impact of Cooperativa Latina. Check it out below!
Special thanks to Gold sponsors Jean and Jim Blaine, Duke Credit Union and the Local Government Federal Credit Union; to Silver sponsors the Greater Piedmont Credit Union and the Latino Credit Union; and to Bronze sponsor Self-Help Credit Union for making this exhibit possible.
C is for Credit Union was curated by Katie Spencer Wright and was on display at the Museum of Durham History in 2014.
This digital exhibit was designed by Clay Harrison in 2023.