First Woman's Bank of Tennessee was founded by Brenda Vineyard Runyon in Clarksville, Tennessee, in 1919. The ongoing women's suffrage movement reflected many women's desire to hold accounts independently of male relatives. The bank was the first in the United States to be managed and directed entirely by women.Gray, Warren P. (1948, 2007 reprint.The Development of Banking in Tennessee, p. 59. Capricorn House Publishers. The novel concept resulted in a total of $20,000 in deposits on its first day of business, October 6, 1919.
It was located within the Hotel Arlington (now Hotel Montgomery) and is now sited by an Arlington historic marker. Lulu Bringhurst Epperson owned the hotel at the time and was the first to make a deposit. Men and women were permitted to maintain savings and investment accounts.
Runyon resigned her position in 1926 due to failing health and was unable to secure a successor. The First Trust and Savings Bank of Clarksville absorbed the bank in 1926.
References
Bibliography First Woman's Bank in Tennessee: 1919-1926. H. Bruce Throckmorton and H. Bruce Throckman. Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 4 (Winter 1976), pp. 389–392