This was an interesting picture and it's on a corner I'm somewhat familiar with (95th and Michigan). Check out this backstory from the photographer, ChicagoEye...
..and yet, a little sad. This sweet ghost sign from the uptight/outtasight 1970s was for Independence Bank of Chicago, one the nation's largest black-owned banks. Offices were at 79th and Cottage Grove and, early on, 79th and Stony Island in the city's black middle-class South Side communities. Independence and Seaway National Bank were both black owned and through they were born of utter racism---black folks formed their own banks because white-owned banks weren't that keen on lending to them--they were sources of pride, especially on the black South Side and the slogan on this sign, frankly, almost brings a tear to the eye its to simple, elegant and of times: "Be proud." Then came the Community Reinvestment Act of the 1980s which all but forced major banks to make loans in black America. Suddenly there was competition for Independence and other black-owned banks. Independence hung tough and even acquired the viable and white-owned Drexel Bank. Sadlly, Independence is no longer around. It got bought out by Shorebank in the 1990s. Seaway still exists, but there are rumbles every year about them selling.
Labels: photograph
