[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 186 (Thursday, December 1, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1200-E1201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING LIBERTY BANK AND TRUST ON CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF QUALITY 
      BANKING IN AMERICA AS THE FIRST BLACK RUN BANK IN LOUISIANA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TROY A. CARTER

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 1, 2022

  Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
Liberty Bank and Trust, a financial institution celebrating 50 years of 
quality banking in America as the first Black-run bank in Louisiana.
  In November 1972, New Orleans was a city with a majority African 
American population. However, there were very few African Americans in 
elective office and limited resources for the development of African 
American businesses and personal wealth building. Following decades of 
segregation and limited voting rights, New Orleans was a city awakening 
to increased opportunities for its African American citizens.
  Dr. Norman C. Francis conceived the idea of starting an African 
American owned bank in New Orleans following the failure of at least 
two other efforts to start such an institution. In late 1971, he 
approached a bi-racial group of businesspeople and elected officials 
with the idea and was able to secure the resources to open Liberty Bank 
on November 16, 1972, in a bank trailer on the site of its first 
Headquarters Building on Tulane Avenue in New Orleans. During its first 
week of operations, Liberty opened over 2,000 accounts, clearly 
demonstrating the need for an African American owned financial 
institution in New Orleans.
  With $2 million dollars in assets, Liberty reported a substantial 
profit for its first year of operations and has reported profitable 
years 46 of its 50 years in existence The Liberty Bank Building on 
Tulane Avenue opened 2 years later. That same year, Liberty opened its 
first branch office on Gentilly Blvd.
  Liberty's mission is to provide cost-effective delivery of high 
quality, innovative, customer driven financial products and services to 
diverse markets with a focus on disadvantaged minority communities who 
have traditionally been underserved. Concurrent with the bank's 
mission, Liberty strives to maintain the company's status as a catalyst 
for economic and community development while generating fair returns to 
shareholders and being an excellent corporate citizen.
  Some of the members of the bi-racial group that worked with Dr. 
Francis in the early years to get the bank started included:
  C.C. Dejoie--Publisher, Louisiana Weekly
  Judge Ernest N. ``Dutch'' Morial, Then State Senator
  Mike O'Keefe
  Judge Israel Augustine
  Owen Brennan, Jr., Prominent Restaurant owner
  William J. Connick
  Benjamin J. Johnson, Esq.
  Ambrose J. Pratt, Jr., MD
  Dr. Langston F. Reed, Local Dentist and Activist
  Norman P. Zucker
  Joseph O. Misshore
  Ms. Jesse W. Cook
  Joseph E. Berrigan, Jr.
  Ben D. Bridgeman
  Joseph G. Landrieu, Jr.
  Jennings Courville
  Tricon (Clem) Sehrt
  A key development in the early years was the financing of Doley 
Securities', the first Black seat on the New York Stock Exchange owned 
by Harold Doley, Jr., becoming the only African American in its history 
to do so. The bank's additional key notes include asset growth over 
first 20 years, mortgages processed, work with National Bankers 
Association and community outreach efforts.
  Once committed to opening an African American owned bank, Dr. Francis 
secured the only African American working above the level of teller in 
any bank in the New Orleans community to run the bank. That was Alden 
McDonald, joining the bank at the ripe age of 29 years old. Effective 
May 2, 2022, the board of directors of Liberty Bank and Trust Company 
announced that Todd O. McDonald was named the bank's president. 
Liberty's former President and CEO Alden J. McDonald Jr., Todd's 
father, continues to lead the Liberty Financial Holding Company. Dr. 
Francis is still chair of the Liberty Bank Board 50 years later, and 
Alden McDonald was one of the longest serving African American Bank 
Presidents in America.
  Liberty Bank established its Baton Rouge presence in 1994 and opened 
a third branch in 2004. Liberty then moved into Mississippi in 2003, 
acquiring First American Bank in Jackson. This was followed by 
expansion into the Greater Kansas City market with the acquisition of 
Douglass bank in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, in 
2008.
  Liberty Bank and Trust Company expanded across Greater New Orleans 
with the 2009 acquisition of United Bank and Trust Company, securing 
four additional locations to serve that market. That was followed by 
the acquisition of Home Federal Savings in Detroit, Michigan, which 
increased the bank's reach to six states. In 2013, Liberty Bank entered 
the Chicago market with the acquisition of Covenant Bank of Illinois, 
and in 2015, the bank expanded to Montgomery and Tuskegee, Alabama 
through the purchase of First Tuskegee Bank.
  Liberty Bank's growth has been the result of acquisitions, fruitful 
partnerships, aggressive marketing, strong management, staff 
productivity and the trust it enjoys in the community. It all adds up 
to an efficient, well-capitalized institution that is perfectly 
positioned to continue fast-paced growths in both profits and assets. 
Liberty Bank is passionate about helping more people achieve more 
economic freedom.
  Today Liberty Bank is the largest financial institution in the United 
States owned by African Americans. It has assets of more than $1 
billion dollars, a customer base of over 40,000 accounts with 175 
employees, and still growing, while recognized as one of the fastest 
growing financial institutions in the country.
  Todd McDonald said in a press release, ``I've been singularly driven 
to build solid stakeholder partnerships and evolve financial products 
which meet the financial needs of an ever-changing world. This next 50 
years will be extraordinary as we reshape our culture, talent and 
organizational capabilities which will make us more agile, more 
competitive, and more effective in our efforts to close the wealth gap 
in underserved communities across the country.''

[[Page E1201]]

  A huge congratulations to New Orleans' home-grown financial 
institution, celebrating their Golden Anniversary New Orleans' with a 
promising future ahead of them.

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