First Women's Bank of California

{{Infobox company

| name = The First Women's Bank of California

| logo = First Women's Bank of California logo.jpg

| slogan =

| foundation = November 1976{{cite book|title=The Bankers Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3owRAQAAMAAJ|year=1964|publisher=Warren, Gorham & Lamont, Incorporated|page=104}}

| location = 12301 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, California

| key_people = Julann Griffin, Cappy Fogel

| area_served = Southern California|

}}

The First Women's Bank of California was a Los Angeles-based bank dedicated to helping women save money and establish credit.{{cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/pasadena/star-news/1976/12-12/page-19|title=First Women's Bank 'Walking a Tightrope'|last=Busteed|first=Belinda|date=December 12, 1976|work=Pasadena Star-News|page=19|accessdate=7 August 2014}} It operated from 1976 until its sale in 1984.{{cite news|title=Last Of 3 'Women's Banks' In California Alters Identity |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19840823&id=Ym0xAAAAIBAJ&pg=5502,4071290 |work=Toledo Blade |page=40 |date=August 23, 1984 |accessdate=July 7, 2014 }}

The bank was founded by a group of area businesswomen, which included Virginia Mullan, Laura Liswood, "Cappy"(Gladys) Fogel,https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/gladys-fogel-obituary?id=52503813 Betty Lessner, Veryl Mortenson, Lee Agajanian, Dianne Freestone (Modisett) Kully, Helene Beck{{Cite web | url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/food-and-cooking/sdut-citrus-groves-treasures-2016jan19-story.html |title = Fallbrook grove's treasures|date = 19 January 2016}} and Julann Elizabeth Wright Griffin. Griffin is the former wife of producer/entertainer Merv Griffin, and she was instrumental in convincing celebrities to buy stock in the bank and open accounts.https://fluvannareview.com/2016/06/by-christina-dimeo-2/

Florence Henderson was the bank's first customer, and eventually Jane Fonda, Loretta Swit, Phyllis Diller, Farrah Fawcett, and Anne Bancroft all had accounts there.*{{Cite web |date=2018-05-02 |title=CSR: Failure not an option for First Women Bank |url=https://www.euromoney.com/article/b180w1f33zy838/csr-failure-not-an-option-for-first-women-bank |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=Euromoney |language=en}}

• https://wmccollections.omeka.net/exhibits/show/findingaids/firstwomensbank
• https://womensmuseum.wordpress.com/2021/06/30/from-our-archives-first-womens-bank-of-california/
• https://ferretresearch.com/2021/08/16/first-womens-banks/
• https://newsroom.fiserv.com/news-releases/news-release-details/gbc-international-bank-selects-precision-fiserv-account
• https://thebhc.org/file-download/download/public/4811

The bank's mission was generally feminist. The bank therefore focused managing women’s money, especially after divorce, although the bank’s founders publicly disavowed feminism as their mission on several occasions.{{Cite news |last=Warren |first=Virginia Lee |date=1975-09-17 |title=When a Bank Run by Women Opens, The Reason Is Not Always Feminism |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/17/archives/when-a-bank-run-by-women-opens-the-reason-is-not-always-feminism.html |access-date=2024-08-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Ironically, when the bank’s board members first searched for a CEO, they were unable to find a qualified woman. Therefore, Rowan Henry, a man, was hired.{{cite journal|last1=Times Staff|title=Bank Featuring Services for Women Opens: Bank For Women|journal=Los Angeles Times|date=November 16, 1976|page=1}} By late 1976, more than $1.5 million in First Women’s Bank stock had been sold to about 1,300 shareholders, 63% of whom were women.

Asked in Occidental College’s alumni magazine what it meant to be a bank for women, board member Dianne Modisett answered, "It means that we eliminate discrimination on the basis of sex. An individual must still qualify for credit or a loan, but if she doesn't, we want to assist her in becoming qualified…It doesn't make any difference to us whether the woman is single, married, divorced, or widowed."{{cite journal|last1=Thomas|first1=Susan|last2=Peter|first2=Susan|title=First women's bank: Dianne Modisett '64|journal=Occidental College Alumni Magazine|date=December 1976|page=31}}

First Women's Bank was sold in 1984 for $2.7 million and reorganized as the Guaranty Bank of California, now GBC International Bank.{{Cite web |title=Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19840823&id=Ym0xAAAAIBAJ&pg=5502,4071290 |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=news.google.com}}