Jesse Binga: Chicago's First Black Banker
About this event
Watch the recording of this program now.
Throughout his life Jesse Binga fought against the color line that segregated the Black Belt from surrounding white neighborhoods.
Binga is the definitive full-length biography of Jesse Binga, the first black banker in Chicago. One of ten children in a Detroit family, Jesse Binga arrived in Chicago in 1892 in his late twenties with virtually nothing. Through his wits and resourcefulness, he rose to wealth and influence as a realtor, and in 1908 he founded the Binga Bank, the first black-owned bank in Chicago. But his fall was equally precipitous. Binga recounts this gripping story about race, history, politics, and finance in Chicago.
This is a virtual event—it will not be held at the library. Once registered, you will receive an email with the webinar link and password. No software is needed to access this presentation online. Need help using Zoom? Visit tplibrary.org/faqs#zoom to get started.
The event will be recorded and available on demand for a week after the initial date.
Speaker Bio: Don Hayner is the retired editor-in-chief of the Chicago Sun-Times. During his tenure as managing editor and editor, the Sun-Times was awarded multiple national and local awards for investigative reporting and breaking news, including the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting in 2011. Hayner is the co-author, with Tom McNamee, of Streetwise Chicago: A History of Chicago Street Names, The Metro Chicago Almanac: Fascinating Facts and Offbeat Offerings about the Windy City, and The Stadium: 1929–1994, The Official Commemorative History of the Chicago Stadium. Hayner is a graduate of Ripon College and John Marshall Law School.