With $1,000 and a mission

In 1978, eight women changed the rules of money—with $1,000 and a mission.

Not long ago, women in the U.S. couldn’t open a bank account or get a credit card without a man’s co-signature. Until 1974, financial independence wasn’t a right—it was a privilege granted by others.

So a group of bold women decided to change that.

Carol Green, Judi Wagner, LaRae Orullian, Gail Schoettler, Wendy Davis, Joy Burns, Beverly Martinez, and Edna Mosely came together in Denver, Colorado, and each pitched in $1,000 of their own money.

Their goal? To start the first Women’s Bank—a place where women could open accounts, apply for credit, and be treated as equals, not exceptions.

On July 14, 1978, the Women’s Bank opened its doors.

The line to get in stretched down the block.

By the end of that first day, over $1 million had been deposited.

It wasn’t just a bank.

It was a statement.

A stand against centuries of exclusion.

These women didn’t wait for the system to change.

They built a new one.

And thanks to their courage, today millions of women control their own financial future.

~Lovely USA