First Women's Bank of California

The First Women's Bank of California was a Los Angeles-based bank dedicated to helping women save money and establish credit.^[2] It operated from 1976 until its sale in 1984.^[3]

The bank was founded by a group of area businesswomen, which included Virginia Mullan, Laura Liswood, "Cappy"(Gladys) Fogel,^[4] Betty Lessner, Veryl Mortenson, Lee Agajanian, Dianne Freestone (Modisett) Kully, Helene Beck^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.^[9] 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."^[10]

First Women's Bank was sold in 1984 for $2.7 million and reorganized as the Guaranty Bank of California, now GBC International Bank.^[11]