This Actual Property Investor Launched Chicago’s First Black-Owned Financial institution, Binga State Financial institution

Real estate investor Jesse Binga became one of the richest black men in Chicago in the early 1900s. The Detroit native came to Chicago with $ 10 in his pocket. A few years later he founded a successful real estate empire and the first black bank in Chicago.

The University of Chicago press journals shared the secrets of Binga’s success, which he published. In his original work, titled Certain Sayings of Jesse Binga, the prominent investor shared business and money tips that are relevant to this day.

“Learn a business and then take care of it. Save, save, save, and when you have it, give, give, give, ”says Binga. “Get a competency. Then the world – white or colored – will admit that you are competent. “

Become a real estate mogul in Chicago

Jesse Binga was born on April 10, 1865 in Detroit, Michigan. As he grew up, Binga helped his mother collect rent and do property repairs. He also worked with his father and left the traditional high school trip to learn the hairdressing business. In 1885 he began traveling around the country as a hairdresser and entrepreneur. He hit the jackpot when he made a land investment in a former Indian reservation in Utah. But it wasn’t until he moved to Chicago that he understood the inner workings of money and how to transform an entire community through real estate investments.

Jesse Binga played an important role in the development of Chicago’s South Side in the early 1900s. He got into the city’s real estate business in the late 19th century, opening his first office in a former apartment at 3331 South State Street. The ambitious investor first bought rundown properties and renovated them in depressed communities on the south side of Chicago. He ignored racial restrictions and made profitable investments – and even secured a lease on an all-white home at 3637 South State Street for his real estate headquarters. There was a need for housing to cope with the influx of African Americans into the city, and Binga was able to meet that need through “blockbusting”.

“My greatest asset in the business – I wouldn’t say it was my overall integrity,” Binga told the Chicago Tribune. “It was partly the disposition of the average white man to underestimate my knowledge of real estate values. You wouldn’t believe that a man of color could shape almost any ancient building. “

The beginning of the Binga Bank

In 1908, Binga’s success in real estate gave him the basis for opening a private bank. Again, it met an unmet need: banking services for African Americans. In 1921, Binga received a state charter and opened the Binga State Bank in 1921.

“Most people don’t know, but virtually all of our business institutions and significant investments are on or near 35th Street. As our employees open new investments and new businesses in this neighborhood, 35th Street will always be colorful to be Chicago’s main commercial center, ”Binga shared in a 1928 interview with the Chicago Defender.

By founding the first black-owned bank in Chicago, he helped develop many black-owned businesses. It also provided employment opportunities for Chicago’s growing class of black leaders. Arthur J. Wilson, the country’s second Black Certified Public Accountant (CPA), was the bank’s vice president and cashier. Mary T. Washington Wylie, the first black woman to become a CPA, started her career with Binga Bank before starting her accounting firm.