1918

Thomas B. Patterson, a county agent, stimulated the leaders in Rowan County to organize the first Credit Union for African Americans in the United States.

Black citizens had set up another eight credit unions by 1920. During the 1940s, the number of black credit unions rose to fifty-five, giving North Carolina nearly as many as all other states combined. The Southern Workman, a journal published by the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia, was one of the first to report on black credit unions in North Carolina.

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