[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 57 (Friday, March 26, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING EMMA C. CHAPPELL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. BRENDAN F. BOYLE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 26, 2021

  Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, it is my honor 
to ask the House of Representatives to join me in honoring Emma C. 
Chappell, a pioneer in the banking community who passed away on March 
16th at the age of 80.
  Mrs. Chappell was born Emma Carolyn Bayton in Philadelphia in 1941. 
Raised by her father after her mother passed away when she was 14 years 
old, Mrs. Chappell graduated from West Philadelphia High School. At the 
age of 16, her pastor and civil rights activist Leon H. Sullivan 
recognized her aptitude for mathematics and encouraged her to go into 
banking. After high school, Mrs. Chappell became a clerk photographer 
at Continental Bank in 1959.
  Mrs. Chappell set her sights on becoming a top bank executive, 
determined to use her grit and tenacity to succeed. As a newlywed to 
her husband, Verdayne, Mrs. Chappell attended Temple University at 
night for five years. In 1971, after completing an executive program 
that allowed her to work in several different departments and gain 
invaluable experience, she was promoted to Assistant Treasurer of 
Continental Bank. In 1977, she was promoted to Vice President at 
Continental, the first African American to serve in that role and the 
first female Vice President of a major bank in Pennsylvania. In this 
capacity, Mrs. Chappell oversaw the Community Business Loan and 
Development Department, granting more than $30 million in loans to 
African American and women owned businesses.
  In 1992, after a five-year effort to raise the $5 million that was 
then required to capitalize a bank, Mrs. Chappell founded the United 
Bank of Philadelphia, becoming the first African American woman to 
charter a commercial bank in the United States. At the same time, she 
began to expand her good work beyond the banking world. She was one of 
the founders of the Rainbow Coalition, the organization founded by 
Jesse Jackson to promote racial equality. She also worked to organize 
what would later become the Philadelphia Commercial Development 
Project. During her 20-year tenure in banking, Mrs. Chappell held an 
impressive record of a less than one percent loan loss ratio, despite 
offering loans to those who might be turned away by other financial 
institutions.
  Emma Chappell was a trailblazer in the banking community and leaves 
behind a legacy of using her position to bring new opportunities and 
resources to underserved Philadelphians. Although she is no longer with 
us, her work will continue to live on and inspire generations to come.

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