South Omaha Savings Bank - South Omaha, NE

Bank Information

Episode Type: Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: savings bank
Start Date: August 17, 1931
Location: South Omaha, Nebraska (41.211, -95.963)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: 978257ba

Response Measures

None

Description

The article (Aug 17, 1931) reports the South Omaha Savings Bank has just failed. No explicit description of a depositor run on this specific bank is given; it is presented as part of a multi-bank crash in Omaha. I classify this as a suspension/closure (failure) likely due to local banking contagion rather than a discrete rumor or sole bank-specific scandal.

Events (1)

1. August 17, 1931 Suspension

Cause: Local Banks
Cause Details: Part of a wave of bank failures in Omaha that week (multiple banks crashed; contagion from other local bank failures).
Newspaper Excerpt: The South Omaha Savings Bank has just failed.
Source: newspapers

Newspaper Articles (1)

1. August 18, 1931 The Daily Worker New York, Chicago, NY

Article from The Daily Worker, August 18, 1931

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Article Text

5 OMAHA BANKS CRASH IN WEEK; OTHERS SHAKEN C.P. Calls on Small Depositors Organize OMAHA, Neb., Aug. 17. - Four banks crashed in one week's time. Two banks crashed Monday, Aug. 10, the State Bank of Omaha and the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Benson. The reason given for the failure was the shrinkage in value of the foreign bonds at the State Bank of Omaha. The Farmers and Merchants Bank reason was having deposits in the State Bank of Omaha. Friday, Aug. 14, the South Omaha State Bank closed and on Saturday, Aug. 15, the Union State Bank closed and the run on three other banks developed to the point where they had to keep open Saturday after their usual closing hours. The presidents of all the banks that have so far crashed are issuing reassuring statements, and yet it is being rumored that the depositors will lose at least 20 to 30 cents on a dollar. This is the biggest bank crash that Omaha has had since 1896. The three other banks of Omaha, the Omaha National, the First National and the U. S. National, are part of the Federal Reserve, and, because of that, the Omaha Clearing House Association is trying to stop runs on these banks, but hundreds of workers are demanding their deposits. In the last week, throughout the state of Iowa, four or five banks have failed and others are said to be very shaky. The Communist Party of Iowa and Nebraska issued a statement Saturday night demanding protection for the workers' deposits and is also demanding that they will be the preferred claims and that they shall be paid in full. Efforts are being made by the Communist Party of Omaha to organize a joint committee of workers who have deposits in the four banks with a committee of the banks where the run is going on at this time. A mass meeting for this purpose is being called for Thursday, Aug. 20, at Jefferson Park of this city. The South Omaha Savings Bank has just failed. This makes three banks in 48 hours. They are trying to stall the run on all the other banks by putting up free lunch counters, where they distribute sandwiches, coffee, pie and lemonade. Many people are standing in front of the crashed banks weeping and lamenting the fact that they have lost their savings.