and Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

.

Origins of US credit unions

In 1907 Filene traveled around the world, and by February reached Calcutta, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. There, he visited some rural cooperative banks

Cooperative banking

Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world....

 that had been promoted and funded by the British colonial government. On his return, he contacted his associate Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 and suggested that a similar type of organization be promoted by the US government in the Philippines.

He realized that credit unions could help ordinary American workers to access loans when they needed them without falling victim to usury

Usury

Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...

. Equally important, workers could save their money so that when hard times hit, they were prepared.

Subsequent to this trip the philanthropy he practiced, combined with the steady implementation efforts of his associate Roy Bergengren

Roy Bergengren

Roy F. Bergengren was an American attorney and pioneer of the United States credit union movement. Hired by Edward Filene in July 1921 to head the Credit Union National Extension Bureau, Bergengren carried out an ambitious legislative agenda that resulted in the enactment of the Federal Credit...

 were critical to the emergence of credit unions in the United States. He also donated $1 million to the Consumers Distribution Corporation to help them organize a national network of cooperative retail stores.

In 1908, Filene and Massachusetts banking commissioner Pierre Jay

Pierre Jay

Pierre Jay was the first chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.He graduated from Yale University in 1892, and was a member of Skull and Bones, one of the best known of the secret societies based at Yale University...

, helped organize public hearings on creating credit union legislation in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Credit Union Act of 1909 was the first comprehensive credit union law in the United States, and would serve as a model for the Federal Credit Union Act

Federal Credit Union Act

The Federal Credit Union Act is an Act of Congress enacted in 1934. The purpose of the law was to make credit available and promote thrift through a national system of nonprofit, cooperative credit unions...

 of 1934.

Filene seems to have been responsible, with the collaboration of Pierre Jay, for the adoption of the term ‘credit union’ in the United States. His concern with fighting loan shark

Loan shark

A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....

s and excessively costly consumer loans led to the choice of the word ‘credit’, while his interest in working people made him want to cast unions

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 in a more positive light.

Inspired by the experience in many European countries where credit unions were called ‘people’s banks’, Filene organized the National Association of Peoples Banks to advance the credit union cause in the US. However, little came of this until 1921, when Filene observed in Roy Bergengren the key organizer he needed. Together with Bergengren he founded the Credit Union National Extension Bureau.

Credit Union National Extension Bureau

The Extension Bureau, to which Filene donated nearly $1 million during its 14-year history, had four goals:

1. to bring about the laws needed for credit union development in the various states,

2. subsequently, to organize some credit unions in each state that could serve as examples to others,

3. to expand the number of credit unions to the point that they could create self-sustaining state federations, and

4. to combine the federations into a self-sustaining national association.

The collaboration between Filene and Bergengren

Roy Bergengren

Roy F. Bergengren was an American attorney and pioneer of the United States credit union movement. Hired by Edward Filene in July 1921 to head the Credit Union National Extension Bureau, Bergengren carried out an ambitious legislative agenda that resulted in the enactment of the Federal Credit...

, and the work of the Extension Bureau, proved very effective. It brought state laws to fruition in 26 states and substantially revised flawed legal frameworks in 5 others. In 1934 the Roosevelt Administration

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 passed the Federal Credit Union Act

Federal Credit Union Act

The Federal Credit Union Act is an Act of Congress enacted in 1934. The purpose of the law was to make credit available and promote thrift through a national system of nonprofit, cooperative credit unions...

, making it possible to form a credit union anywhere in the United States.

The Extension Bureau has been a model for many projects related to international development

International development

International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...

 and microfinance

Microfinance

Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....

 since. Foreshadowing debates that still rage however, the views of Filene and Bergengren diverged on two key issues.

First, Bergengren believed that the Extension Bureau should attempt to secure federal legislation first, rather than work state by state. Filene prevailed in this debate, maintaining that a national law should be based on a sound understanding of the diverse circumstances of people across America -- from shrimp fishermen in Louisiana, to factory workers in Massachusetts or farmers in the mid-West. Only by developing many state laws first would such a sound national understanding be possible.

Second, as the Great Depression

Great Depression in the United States

The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...

 set in the Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was an independent agency of the United States government, established and chartered by the US Congress in 1932, Act of January 22, 1932, c. 8, 47 Stat. 5, during the administration of President Herbert Hoover. It was modeled after the War Finance Corporation...

 under President Hoover

Herbert Hoover

Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...

 sought to stimulate the economy with soft loans targeted to banks, railways and large companies. Filene favoured asking for $100 million in reconstruction credits to be pumped into credit unions. Bergengren strongly opposed this position, and his view prevailed this time. "To him, it meant destroying the vital principle of the whole movement by converting a community enterprise into an agency of the government. To teach people how to help themselves was more important by far in times of depression than at any other time."

Credit Union National Association

With the work of the Bureau essentially completed, a national meeting of credit union leaders was called at Estes Park, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. On August 11th, 1934 the Credit Union National Association

Credit Union National Association

The Credit Union National Association, commonly known as CUNA , is a national trade association for both state- and federally-chartered credit unions located in the United States. CUNA provides member credit unions with trade association services, such as lobbying, professional development, and...

 – a national federation funded by the nation’s credit unions -- was formed to replace the Bureau. The role of philanthropy in creating the US credit union system was over.

The founding By-Laws of CUNA recognize Filene’s contributions with the following words:

Last Years

During the 1930s, Filene was concerned about the growing threat of the Axis powers

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

 on the international front, and the need to prevent another Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 on the home front. He was appalled by the growing strength of the Fascist movement and worried about the growing anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism

Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...

 in Europe. He gave many speeches on the subject and wrote against the growing anti-Semitism in the United States.

His other major concern was mass production. He argues that higher wages and shorter hours for workers would enable them to buy materials they could not otherwise afford. He wrote several books on the subject and proposed that mass production, mass distribution and worker purchasing power were the answer to economic depression. He admired the methods of Henry Ford

Henry Ford

Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...

 in the auto industry.

In 1935, he made a visit to Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 and was stricken with pneumonia. His assistant, Lillian Schoedler was able to get him the best of care and he did recover. In 1937, however, he made another trip to Europe to attend the International Chamber of Commerce meeting in Paris. He again contracted pneumonia and died in the American Hospital in Paris on September 26, 1937.

His death was reported on the front page of every major newspaper in the world. A man who thought of himself as a “seller of pins” would have been honored indeed by the tribute paid to him by President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he heard of Filene’s death Roosevelt wrote:

"It is not individual persons but the people as a whole who were closest to the heart of this unique personality. Mr. Filene was, however, more than a champion of popular rights. He was a prophet who perceived the true meaning of these changing times. He was an analyst who was able, by mathematical calculations, to make plain to us that our modern mechanism of abundance cannot be kept in operation unless the masses of our people are enabled to live abundantly. His democracy was, therefore, more than a tradition. His liberalism was more than a formula. His faith was more than a mere assent to principles which have proved to be tried and true. He did not repudiate the past, after the fashion of some reformers, nor did he repudiate the future after the fashion of those who fear reform. He believed in learning and searching out the ways of human progress.”

Roy Bergengren conducted a series of memorial meetings for credit unionists around the country. The Board of Directors of Credit Union National Association and CUNA Mutual Insurance Company voted to raise funds to build a memorial to their founder. Filene House in Madison, Wisconsin was the result. President Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

 dedicated the building in May 1950.

An additional memorial, the S.S. Edward A. Filene, a liberty class cargo ship was built for the U.S. Maritime Commission in 1944. The hull number was 2472 and built by St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. The ship started construction on 9 February 1944 and launched on 6 April 1944, with a christening ceremony attended by many Floridian credit union people and Catherine Filene Shouse

Catherine Filene Shouse

Catherine Filene Shouse was a researcher and philanthropist. She graduated in 1918 from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. She worked for the Women's Division of the U.S. Employment Service of the Department of Labor, and the Democratic National Committee...

. The S.S. Edward A. Filene was sunk in 1966 at Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 to be used as a breakwater and dock.

Legacy

Perhaps partly as a result of his childhood injury, and the eczema

Eczema

Eczema is a form of dermatitis, or inflammation of the epidermis . In England, an estimated 5.7 million or about one in every nine people have been diagnosed with the disease by a clinician at some point in their lives.The term eczema is broadly applied to a range of persistent skin conditions...

 that plagued him throughout his life, Filene was shy as a youth, and never married. As several writers mention, this may be why “his family in a very real sense became society as a whole.”

The results of this dedication speak for themselves. By the end of 2008 US credit unions had 89 million members. This is the largest membership of any country in the world, and one of the highest levels of market penetration in the world.

A credit union think tank and research organization, the Filene Research Institute

Filene Research Institute

The Filene Research Institute is a credit union and consumer finance think tank headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. It is committed to research and innovation to further the credit union movement. The Institute was founded in 1989 and is named for Boston-based United States credit union pioneer,...

, is named in his honor as the father of the credit union movement. A building of the Hillman Housing Corporation, a housing cooperative

Housing cooperative

A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...

 in the Lower East Side

Lower East Side

The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....

 of Manhattan, is named after him. Bronze busts honoring Filene and seven other industry magnates stand outside between the Chicago River

Chicago River

The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...

 and the Merchandise Mart

Merchandise Mart

When opened in 1930, the Merchandise Mart or the Merch Mart, located in the Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois, was the largest building in the world with of floor space. Previously owned by the Marshall Field family, the Mart centralized Chicago's wholesale goods business by consolidating vendors...

 in downtown Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

The first credit union to be named after Filene outside the United States was Filene Credit Union in Broad Cove, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 in December 1932.

Publications

The Way Out: A Forecast of Coming Changes in American Business and Industry. (1925)

More Profits from Merchandising: The Model Stock Plan for Distributors, Producers, and Buyers. (1925)

The Model Stock Plan. (1930)

Successful Living in This Machine Age. (1931)

Morals in Business. (1935)

Next Steps Forward in Retailing. (1937)

Speaking of Change: A Selection of Speeches and Articles. (1939)

External links

• Credit Union National Association
• The Century Foundation
• Role in creation of Credit Unions
• Short bio
• A tribute to Edward Filene
• About the Filene Research Institute