Chase Bank & Bank One admit role in slavery

[Tehuti-4]

anuary 20, 2005

Recently, JPMorgan Chase completed extensive research examining our company's history for any links to slavery to meet a commitment to the city of Chicago. Today, we are reporting that this research found that between 1831 and 1865 two of our predecessor banks - Citizens Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana - accepted approximately 13,000 enslaved individuals as collateral on loans and took ownership of approximately 1,250 of them when the plantation owners defaulted on the loans.

We all know slavery existed in our country, but it is quite different to see how our history and the institution of slavery were intertwined. Slavery was tragically ingrained in American society, but that is no excuse.

We apologize to the American public, and particularly to African-Americans, for the role that Citizens Bank and Canal Bank played during that period.

Although we cannot change the past, we are committed to learning from and emerging stronger because of it. Since these events took place in Louisiana, we are establishing a $5 million college scholarship program for students living in Louisiana.

Smart Start Louisiana will mirror Smart Start New York, an extremely successful program we created and operate in New York City. Through this program, JPMorgan Chase will provide an initial $5 million over five years for full-tuition, undergraduate scholarships to African-American students from Louisiana to attend colleges in their home state. Students will be selected based upon merit and need. In addition to receiving scholarships, the students will have the opportunity to intern at JPMorgan Chase during the summer with the goal of being hired upon graduation.

JPMorgan Chase is, of course, a very different company than the Citizens and Canal Banks of the 1800s. We are committed to creating opportunities for African-Americans within our own firm, and to supporting communities we serve through philanthropic programs focused on economic empowerment and education. For more information, visit the JPMC Today section of this website.

We also realize you may have questions about these research findings. This website provides further details about the research, methodology, and details of findings, including names of the enslaved individuals when identified, parish information and archival citations for those seeking to do further research.

Although much of the information is difficult to look at, we hope it will prove useful to those researching their ancestry, as well as for those seeking to learn more about this tragic period in our country's history.

http://www2.bankone.com/presents/common_questions/