| The First Women's Bank of California | |
| Foundation: | November 1976[1] |
| Location: | 12301 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, California |
| Key People: | Julann Griffin, Cappy Fogel |
| Area Served: | Southern California |
The First Women's Bank of California was a Los Angeles-based bank dedicated to helping women save money and establish credit.[2] It operated from 1976 until its sale in 1984.[3]
The bank was founded by a group of area businesswomen, which included Virginia Mullan, Laura Liswood, "Cappy"(Gladys) Fogel,[4] Betty Lessner, Veryl Mortenson, Lee Agajanian, Dianne Freestone (Modisett) Kully, Helene Beck[5] and Julann Elizabeth Wright Griffin. Griffin is the former wife of producer/entertainer Merv Griffin, and she was instrumental in convincing celebrities to buy stock in the bank and open accounts.[6]
Florence Henderson was the bank's first customer, and eventually Jane Fonda, Loretta Swit, Phyllis Diller, Farrah Fawcett, and Anne Bancroft all had accounts there.[7]
The bank's mission was generally feminist. The bank therefore focused managing women’s money, especially after divorce, although the bank’s founders publicly disavowed feminism as their mission on several occasions.[8]
Ironically, when the bank’s board members first searched for a CEO, they were unable to find a qualified woman. Therefore, Rowan Henry, a man, was hired.[9] By late 1976, more than $1.5 million in First Women’s Bank stock had been sold to about 1,300 shareholders, 63% of whom were women.
Asked in Occidental College’s alumni magazine what it meant to be a bank for women, board member Dianne Modisett answered, "It means that we eliminate discrimination on the basis of sex. An individual must still qualify for credit or a loan, but if she doesn't, we want to assist her in becoming qualified…It doesn't make any difference to us whether the woman is single, married, divorced, or widowed."[10]
First Women's Bank was sold in 1984 for $2.7 million and reorganized as the Guaranty Bank of California, now GBC International Bank.[11]