3937. Metropolitan State Bank (Chicago, IL)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Run Only
Bank Type
state
Start Date
April 11, 1923
Location
Chicago, Illinois (41.850, -87.650)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
81b9c0d408293314

Response Measures

None

Description

Two contemporaneous articles (Apr 1923) report a depositor run on the Metropolitan State Bank in Chicago. No suspension, receivership, or reopening is mentioned. Causes reported include political agitation and a burglar-alarm test that triggered a false robbery rumor; officials and the state banking examiner stated the bank was sound. The bank responded by paying out funds and ordering a special police guard.

Events (1)
1. April 11, 1923 Run
Cause
Rumor Or Misinformation
Cause Details
Articles attribute the run to political plotting and to a burglar-alarm test that set off an alarm, prompting rumors the bank had been robbed; officials said the bank was sound.
Random Run
Yes
Random Run Snippet
alarm test set off; rumor bank robbed; officials said bank sound
Measures
Paid out over $250,000 by 9 pm; special police guard deployed to keep crowds in order.
Newspaper Excerpt
A run on the Metropolitan State bank resulted in a special guard of police being ordered out last night...by 9 o'clock last night more than $250,000 had been paid out and a reserve of $500,000 had been waiting in the vaults,
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (2)
1. April 11, 1923 San Antonio Light San Antonio, TX
Article from San Antonio Light, April 11, 1923

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Article Text

RUN ON CHICAGO BANK "Poliites" Blamed for Rush; Institution Believed Sound. Chicago, April 11.-A run on the Metropolitan State bank resulted in a special guard of police being ordered out last night to keep the crowds of alarmed depositors around the bank in order. Officials of the bank declared that the run was "caused by politics." Long lines began to form before the entrance this afternoon and by 9 o'clock last night more than $250,000 had been paid out and a reserve of $500,000 was waiting in the vaults, according to bank officials. Dr. S. A. Brenza. brother of the president of the bank, asserted that politics was behind the run. He said he had been a candidate in the last aldermanic election and that he believed the run was a plot of his political foes. Walter S. Corby of the state banking examiner's office declared that there was no occasion for the run. "The bank is sound and in excellent condition," he declared.

2. April 20, 1923 The Dolores Star Dolores, CO
Article from The Dolores Star, April 20, 1923

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Article Text

Burglar Alarm Causes Run on Bank Chicago.-A run on the Metropolitan State Bank, at Twenty-second and South Leavitt streets, resulted in a special guard of police being ordered out to keep the crowds of alarmed depositors around the bank in order. John B. Brenza, president of the bank, said he believed the run was the result of the installation of a burglar alarm system. In the installation work, it was necessary to set off the alarm to test it. Mr. Brenza said that he believed that when the police answered the alarm the rumor spread that the bank had been robbed.