Bank One 'probably' Dealt with Slave Businesses

• Originally published in the Chicago Sun Times [here]
  

Bank One 'probably' dealt with slave businesses
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
For the second time in a month, Bank One has filed an amended slavery disclosure affidavit with City Hall -- this time revealing fresh new details of its search for skeletons in the closets of its Louisiana predecessors. Determined to avoid a repeat of the slave disclosure controversy that has embroiled its merger partner, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank One states in the new affidavit that Citizens Bank, formed in 1833, and Canal and Banking Co., formed in 1831, "did business in Louisiana during this era and probably did business with persons or entities that employed slaves." The affidavit also names a series of Louisiana banks that Bank One believes may have been its predecessors.

Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd), champion of the City Council's slave reparations movement, said she has no doubt that Bank One's researcher will uncover specific ties to slavery because a research team led by the alderman's daughter already has.

Records on file in St. Landry Parish, La., show at least five instances in 1837 alone where land and slaves were used to either secure mortgages or purchase stock from Canal and Banking Co. and Citizens Bank, the alderman said. Ninety-one slaves were used as collateral in the five transactions.

"Louisiana was the international port for slavery. They brought slaves from the Caribbean. They exported cotton, rice, textiles and dry goods from New Orleans. It's impossible not to find slavery down there," Tillman said Thursday.

"It's truly a victory for our people -- the fact that this major company is coming clean. They didn't try to dodge the question. It's not a joke. It's the law. If you don't come clean, you can't do business. J.P. Morgan Chase has not been able to bid on a lot of stuff because they have not come clean."

Bank One's merger with J.P. Morgan Chase is scheduled to take effect July 1. The bank reportedly began its extensive search through federal banking records before Bill Daley, the mayor's brother, joined J.P. Morgan Chase as Midwest chairman. But, Tillman believes the decision to lift the curtain in stages may have been influenced by Daley's arrival.

Tillman has accused J.P. Morgan Chase of profiting from the slave trade and lying about it on a sworn affidavit.

"Bill Daley understands the lay of the land," she said.

Bank One spokesman Tom Kelly said the banking giant chose to amend its slavery affidavit for the second time in a month because of additional research provided by History Associates.

"We're now able to flesh out the names of banks that may be predecessors to our bank in Louisiana. We wanted to lay out as much as we could of that lineage," Kelly said.

Asked whether the banking giant was prepared to acknowledge past ties to slavery, he said, "We're not there yet. ... We know the banks. We know that those banks did business in states that had slavery during the slave era. Now, let's look and see what we can find out about them. We want to be disciplined in the way we approach it and make sure we have it exactly right."

In Bank One's new disclosure, it names possible predecessor entities, including: Canal Commercial Trust & Savings Bank, Canal Bank & Trust, National Bank of Commerce, First National Bank of Commerce and Bank One Louisiana, which merged into Bank One North America in November 1998.

Bank One now "believes that Canal and Banking Co. and Citizens Bank may be predecessors of First National Bank of Commerce," even though it has located no supporting documents to establish that fact.

History Associates is now in the process of checking federal records of Depression-era banks to verify the relationship, the affidavit states.