Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a bank holiday on March 5, 1933, closing banks across the country until they proved financial soundness. Meanwhile, as the United States crawled out of the
Great Depression, Jesse H. Mitchell and a group of black businessmen accomplished the extraordinary--they started a black-owned bank on a street known as ＂Black Broadway＂ in the nation’s
capital. Mitchell, a Howard University-educated lawyer and realtor, and his friends sold ＄65,000 in stock, and in the sweltering heat on August 20, 1934, Industrial Bank of Washington opened
for business. A range of black investors rallied around the effort, from individuals, churches, and service-oriented organizations to savvy business owners. The bank has carried on for three
generations: Mitchell’s son B. Doyle Mitchell Sr. succeeded him as president in 1953, who was then succeeded in 1993 by his grandson B. Doyle Mitchell Jr. as president and CEO and his
granddaughter Patricia A. Mitchell as executive vice president.
