April 9, 2019
Speaker: Joseph Smith, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Dollar Bank and Dorothy Spangler, Multi-Media Production Specialist at Dollar Bank
The Dollar Bank presentation to the Squirrel Hill Historical Society will feature several chapters of Dollar Bank’s history. Founded in 1855, Dollar Bank is the oldest bank in Pittsburgh. Our presentation will feature several stories of our founder, Charles Colton, and the initial courage of our first board members to establish a mutual bank.
The late 1800s and early 1900s witnessed the flood of immigrants to Pittsburgh and our birth as an industrial center within our country. As a community bank, Dollar Bank was immersed in this explosive economy helping to fund housing, churches and numerous small businesses.
Our presentation will also focus on several of our Squirrel Hill customers over the past 164 years. These include Jacob and Morris Kaufmann, co-founders of our iconic Kaufmann’s Department Store, Mary Magee Scaife and the influence of her two famous families on our region, and James Phelan, downtown men’s clothing merchant for over 50 years. Our Squirrel Hill office was opened in 1962 following the deregulation of thrifts by Congress.
We will review several of the key initiatives Dollar Bank, as the region’s largest community bank, has established in recent years. Our Mortgages for Mothers program promotes homeownership for low to moderate income individuals. We will also touch on our support for education and quality of life initiatives in the region.
About the Speakers:
Joseph Smith has lead Dollar Bank’s marketing efforts since 1993 after moving back to his hometown of Pittsburgh. He is responsible for all retail and corporate marketing including Product Management, Communications, Telephone and Online Sales and Service.
Prior to joining Dollar Bank, Joe spent eight years in Brand Management with Proctor & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson. Following the deregulation of mutual funds, Joe began working with T. Rowe Price Mutual Funds as the Vice President of Individual Marketing then Golden West Financial in Oakland, California. There he was Senior Vice President of Marketing for World Savings and Loan and a Director of Atlas Mutual Funds. He was responsible for all advertising, promotion and customer communications for World Savings.
Joe is a graduate of Princeton University with a MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. Joe resides in Mt. Lebanon with his wife, Lynn.
Dorothy Spangler is a Multi-Media Production Specialist at Dollar Bank and a history enthusiast. As part of Dollar Bank’s Marketing Department, she researches the history of Dollar Bank and its early customers. She is a graduate of Duquesne University, where she also taught screenwriting as an adjunct instructor. A previous resident of Los Angeles, she worked for ABC/Touchstone TV and was the recipient of a Walt Disney Screenwriting Fellowship.
Squirrel Hill Historical Society 