WHRO Time Machine Video
The Great Depression In Hampton Roads: Tazewell F. Thomspson
Special | 1m 27sVideo has Closed Captions
Securing $90,000 amid bank panic shows Norfolk’s urgent response during FDR’s early days.
Just after FDR’s inauguration, banks faced chaos as customers rushed for cash. Our guest recalls securing $90,000 to pay customers in Norfolk while Richmond banks stayed closed, capturing the tension and urgency of the banking crisis.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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WHRO Time Machine Video is a local public television program presented by WHRO Public Media
WHRO Time Machine Video
The Great Depression In Hampton Roads: Tazewell F. Thomspson
Special | 1m 27sVideo has Closed Captions
Just after FDR’s inauguration, banks faced chaos as customers rushed for cash. Our guest recalls securing $90,000 to pay customers in Norfolk while Richmond banks stayed closed, capturing the tension and urgency of the banking crisis.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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- We in the morning.
We're in the morning.
We've got a lot of, we're in the morning.
- Roosevelt was going close.
The banks, as I recall, at midday on a Saturday right after he had been inaugurated.
And my boss said to me, you go over to the bank where we keep our banks deposit and bring back $90,000 in cash because we were paying out customers as fast as it lined up before the windows, and every bank was doing the same thing.
So I went over there and the teller said to me very nicely, he said, you'll have to see so and so who's an assistant cashier.
So I saw so and so who was an assistant cashier who brought in another assistant cashier, and they tried to talk me out of getting my $90,000, which we badly needed.
But apparently I was able to talk long enough that I got my $90,000 and went back and we paid it all out that day.
Every bank in Norfolk reopened, you're exactly right.
Every bank in Richmond did not open.
Two of the largest ones in Richmond did not open.
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WHRO Time Machine Video is a local public television program presented by WHRO Public Media