---
title: "Citizens Savings Bank — AP African American Studies"
description: "Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company (1904) is the oldest continuously operating Black-owned US bank, a Unit 3 example of Black economic self-sufficiency under Jim Crow."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/citizens-savings-bank-and-trust-company"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP African American Studies"
unit: "Unit 3"
---

# Citizens Savings Bank — AP African American Studies

## Definition

Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company, founded in 1904, is the oldest continuously operating African American-owned bank in the US and the first Black-owned bank to join the FDIC and Federal Reserve System, exemplifying Black institution-building in response to exclusion (Topic 3.9).

## What It Is

Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company is a Black-owned bank founded in 1904 in Nashville, Tennessee. It holds two superlatives worth memorizing. It is the oldest continuously operating African American-owned bank in the United States, and it was the first African American-owned bank to become a member of both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve System.

Why did it exist in the first place? In the early twentieth century, white-owned banks routinely refused to serve Black customers, denied them loans, or treated them as second-class clients. So African Americans built their own financial institutions. Citizens Savings let Black families deposit savings safely, take out loans, buy homes, and start businesses, all without depending on institutions that excluded them. Its growth tells the story. Between 1904 and 1920, it went from about 600 depositors with $8,000 in deposits to roughly 10,000 depositors holding $1.2 million. That is [the practice of freedom](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3 "fv-autolink") in dollar amounts.

## Why It Matters

This term lives in **[Topic 3.9](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/9-black-organizations-and-institutions/study-guide/bM3uuuyuPJw9xNdJ "fv-autolink") (Black Organizations and Institutions)** in **Unit 3: The Practice of Freedom**. It directly supports learning objective **3.9.A**, which asks you to explain how African Americans promoted the economic stability and well-being of their communities in the early twentieth century. The bank is a textbook case of **EK 3.9.A.1**: in response to exclusion from broader American society, African Americans created businesses and organizations that served Black citizens and improved community self-sufficiency. Citizens Savings is one of the most concrete, evidence-ready examples you can cite for that claim. Banks, newspapers, [churches](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/13-resistance-and-revolts-in-the-united-states/study-guide/Eb17rb9yzYu279TU "fv-autolink"), and businesses all worked together as a parallel infrastructure that Jim Crow America refused to provide. For the full picture of that institution-building wave, head to the [Topic 3.9 study guide](#).

## Connections

### [Madam C.J. Walker (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/madam-c-j-walker)

Walker's haircare empire and Citizens Savings are two faces of the same idea. Black entrepreneurship turned exclusion into opportunity by serving customers white businesses ignored. If an FRQ asks for evidence of Black economic self-sufficiency, these two examples pair perfectly.

### [Black press (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-press)

Black-owned newspapers and Black-owned banks were parallel institutions built for the same reason. Mainstream papers ignored [Black communities](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/23-the-civil-war-and-black-communities/study-guide/izqwf48keJf083W0 "fv-autolink") the way mainstream banks excluded them. Both show EK 3.9.A's pattern of building what society denied you.

### [Black churches (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-churches)

[Black churches](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-churches "fv-autolink") were often the organizing hubs where banks, mutual aid societies, and businesses got their start. Religious leaders and congregations supplied the trust networks that made a community bank like Citizens Savings viable.

### [Niagara Movement (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/niagara-movement)

The [Niagara Movement](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/niagara-movement "fv-autolink") (1905) fought exclusion through political protest while Citizens Savings (1904) answered it through economic institution-building. Founded a year apart, they show two coexisting strategies in the practice of freedom, not competing ones.

## On the AP Exam

Expect multiple-choice questions, and they tend to come in two flavors. The first is straight recall, like identifying the 1904 Black-owned bank that first joined the Federal Reserve System. The second, more common type gives you the bank as a stimulus and asks what development it reflects. The answer is almost always some version of EK 3.9.A.1, meaning African Americans responding to exclusion by building self-sufficient community institutions. You might also see data-based stems, like the bank's growth from 600 depositors and $8,000 in 1904 to 10,000 depositors and $1.2 million by 1920, asking what conclusion the numbers support (growing Black economic participation and trust in Black-owned institutions). No released FRQ has used this term verbatim, but it works as specific evidence whenever a prompt asks how African Americans promoted economic stability in the early twentieth century.

## Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company vs Freedman's Savings Bank

These are different banks from different eras with opposite endings. The Freedman's Savings Bank was a Reconstruction-era institution chartered for formerly enslaved people; its collapse in 1874 wiped out Black depositors' savings and damaged trust in banks. Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company came thirty years later, in 1904, was Black-owned and Black-run, and never stopped operating. If a question emphasizes failure and lost savings, it's Freedman's. If it emphasizes longevity, self-sufficiency, or FDIC/Federal Reserve firsts, it's Citizens Savings.

## Key Takeaways

- Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company was founded in 1904 and is the oldest continuously operating African American-owned bank in the United States.
- It was the first African American-owned bank to become a member of both the FDIC and the Federal Reserve System.
- On the exam, the bank works as evidence for EK 3.9.A.1, showing that African Americans responded to exclusion by creating businesses and institutions that served Black communities.
- Its growth from 600 depositors with $8,000 in 1904 to 10,000 depositors with $1.2 million by 1920 shows rising Black economic participation and trust in Black-owned institutions.
- Don't confuse it with the Freedman's Savings Bank, which was a Reconstruction-era institution that collapsed in 1874 and lost depositors' money.
- It belongs to a broader Unit 3 pattern of parallel Black institutions, including the Black press, Black churches, and Black-owned businesses like Madam C.J. Walker's.

## FAQs

### What is the Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company in AP African American Studies?

It's a Black-owned bank founded in 1904, the oldest continuously operating African American-owned bank in the US and the first to join the FDIC and Federal Reserve System. In Topic 3.9, it's a prime example of African Americans building institutions to promote economic self-sufficiency.

### Was Citizens Savings the first Black-owned bank in the United States?

Not exactly. Earlier Black-owned banks existed, but Citizens Savings (1904) is the oldest one still continuously operating. Its true firsts are being the first African American-owned bank to join the FDIC and the Federal Reserve System.

### How is Citizens Savings Bank different from the Freedman's Savings Bank?

The Freedman's Savings Bank was a Reconstruction-era institution that collapsed in 1874, wiping out Black depositors' savings. Citizens Savings was founded in 1904, was Black-owned and operated, and is still running today, which is why it represents successful institution-building rather than betrayed trust.

### Why did African Americans create their own banks in the early 1900s?

White-owned banks excluded Black customers, denying them accounts, loans, and fair treatment under [Jim Crow](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/20-science-medicine-and-technology-in-black-communities/study-guide/GGvwKPixbIHELH9o "fv-autolink"). Black-owned banks like Citizens Savings gave communities a safe place to save and borrow, which is exactly the pattern EK 3.9.A.1 describes.

### How does Citizens Savings Bank show up on the AP African American Studies exam?

Mostly in multiple-choice questions that ask what development the bank reflects (Black economic self-sufficiency in response to exclusion) or that use its growth data, like rising from 600 depositors in 1904 to 10,000 by 1920, as a stimulus. It also makes strong specific evidence for any prompt on early twentieth-century Black economic life.

## Related Study Guides

- [3.9 Black Organizations and Institutions](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/9-black-organizations-and-institutions/study-guide/bM3uuuyuPJw9xNdJ)

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