Financial History Issue 113 (Spring 2015) | Page 8

THE TICKER  MUSEUM NEWS

On March 10, the Museum and Columbia Business School Publishing launched
Genealogy of American Finance, a new
book featuring the genealogical “family
trees” of the nation’s 50 largest banks
alongside beautifully illustrated narrative
histories of each bank.
Authored by renowned financial historians Dr. Robert E. Wright and Dr.
Richard Sylla, the book explores how 50
financial companies came to dominate the
US banking system and their impact on

the nation’s political, social and economic
growth. A story that spans more than two
centuries of war, crisis and opportunity,
it reminds readers that American banking was never a fixed enterprise but has
evolved in tandem with the country.
“This project sheds tremendous light
into the dynamic nature of our nation’s
financial history,” said Charles M. Royce,
CEO of The Royce Funds who is also the
underwriter of the project. “One can never
completely understand the future without
a comprehension of the past. In an easyto-read and understandable manner, this
book gives a narrative history that is accessible by all — from the newcomer working
at a bank to the finance professional, from
the student to the scholar, from the practitioner to the regulator.”
David Cowen, President and CEO of
the Museum, said, “The histories of US
financial institutions are complex with
implications that have greatly influenced
the way we all work and live today.  We
are proud and excited to be a part of this
project, as our goal as a Museum is to
continually be an educator about the history of American finance — past, present
and future.”
A companion website featuring the
un­abridged family trees of each bank is
available at www.moaf.org/newbook. 

MoAF Bitcoin
Event Draws
Record Crowd
More than 300 people attended the
Museum’s February 11 event on “Bitcoin
and the Future of Payments Technology.”
The program featured a fireside chat with
former US Treasury Secretary and President Emeritus of Harvard University Lawrence H. Summers conducted by Michael
Casey, senior columnist for global finance
at The Wall Street Journal, followed by a
panel discussion. Participants included
Jeremy Allaire, founder and CEO of Circle;
Charles Cascarilla, CEO and co-founder
of itBit; Lawrence Goodman, president of
the Center for Financial Stability; and Paul
Vigna, reporter and “Money Beat” host at
The Wall Street Journal.
The event was sponsored by Voya
Financial and coincided with the launch
of Casey and Vigna’s new book, The Age of
Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital
Money are Challenging the Global Economic Order. 

Elsa Ruiz

Museum Launches Book and
Website Tracing the “Family Trees”
of the 50 Largest US Banks

Former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence H.
Summers spoke at the Museum’s
Bitcoin panel in February.

MAY 1

1792

One of the first IPOs in US history is
launched, as the Western and Northern
Inland Lock Navigation Companies go
public at the Tontine Coffee House in
New York City and Lewis’ Tavern in Albany.

6    FINANCIAL HISTORY  |  Spring 2015  | www.MoAF.org

MAY 6

1870

Amadeo Peter Giannini is born in California.
Thirty-four years later, he founds the Bank
of Italy in San Francisco. Today, as Bank
of America, it is one of the world’s largest
financial institutions.