Liberty Savings and Loan

Liberty Savings and Loan. . , First African American-Owned Savings and Loan in the West , Organized in 1924, Liberty Building-Loan Association, later renamed Liberty Savings and Loan Association, was the first African American owned business of its type west of the Rocky Mountains. The institution offered economical home mortgages at a time when white lenders refused to finance housing for African Americans and other marginalized groups in most parts of Los Angeles. Liberty's founders established offices at 2504-2512 South Central Avenue to encourage African Americans to save money and to invest in Liberty and other sound African American-owned businesses. , When Liberty opened, California Eagle editor Joseph Bass commented enthusiastically to his primarily African American readers that the institution brought a "real service to the community." As he saw it, clients could benefit twice , by earning 4 percent on their money and by supporting an enterprise eager to improve their community. Bass further noted that black Angelenos would also spare themselves the indignities of the “petty prejudice and discrimination” they often endured while attempting to do business with white-owned building and loan associations. , Founders and Civic Leaders , Liberty sprang to life when Los Angeles , including the city's African American community , was enjoying a period of strong economic growth in the 1920s. The founding directors combined professional success with community service. Wilbur C. Gordon, who had several business and land development ventures while practicing medicine, was its president. As part of the push for civil rights, Gordon reveled in helping African Americans to create wealth and start businesses. , Charles S. Blodgett, a construction company entrepreneur and co-owner of a Hudson and Essex automobile dealership, served as Liberty's first vice president. Other board members included: Louis M. Blodgett (Charles' brocher), a developer of housing tracts and commercial projects and co-owner of the automobile dealership; Norman O. Houston, a founder of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance and real estate investor; James H. Shackelford, real estate investor and furniture store owner; Albert Baumann, pharmacist and business owner; Eugene C. Nelson, a physician and entrepreneur; Frank A. Harvey, vice president and general manager of Harvey Brothers Corporation, which supplied construction materials used to build many downtown Los Angeles edifices; and A. Hartley Jones, a businessman. , All of these men were leaders and important supporters of civic and charitable organizations that worked to improve the lives of African Americans and other Angelenos, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Los Angeles Urban League, the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), and the Community Chest. , Successful Years Under Louis M. Blodgett , Within a few years of Liberty's founding, Louis M. Blodgett became its president. He shepherded Liberty through the challenging years of the Great Depression in the 1930s and oversaw its accreditation as an entity with all savings accounes insured by the federal government. As a successful construction contractor and land developer, Blodgett urged white employers to hire more African Americans on construction jobs and pushed for those workers' right to join Los Angeles building unions, even as whites continued to attempt to exclude them. , Liberty Savings and Loan Association was not well known outside Los Angeles. However, by the time the owners sold to a white firm in 1961, Blodgett and his family were widely considered to be among the wealthiest African American families in the United States, thanks to their multimillion-dollar stake in Liberty and their real estate and insurance company holdings.