Book Summary and Reviews of Give Her Credit by Grace L. Williams

Give Her Credit by Grace L. Williams

Give Her Credit

The Untold Account of a Women's Bank That Empowered a Generation

by Grace L. Williams

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Published:
  • Jan 2025, 220 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The galvanizing true story of a group of remarkable women in the 1970s male-run world of business, banking, and finance. They didn't play by the rules. They changed them and made history.

In the 1970s, a new wave of feminism was sweeping America. But in the boys' club of banking and finance, women were still infantilized―no credit without a male cosigner, and their income was dismissed as unreliable. If bankers weren't going to accommodate women, then women had to take control of their own futures. In 1978 in Denver, Colorado, the opening of the Women's Bank changed everything.

It was helmed by bank officer B. LaRae Orullian and the brainchild of whip-smart entrepreneur Carol Green, who forged a groundbreaking path with their headstrong colleagues, among them: Judi Foster, investment research whiz; Edna Mosley, unyielding civil rights advocate with the NAACP; Mary Roebling, renowned financial executive; Betty Freedman, a socialite and fundraiser; and Gail Schoettler, a formidable Denver mover and shaker for social justice. Coming together and facing their own unique road to revolution, they built the most successful female-run bank in the nation. It wasn't easy.

Give Her Credit follows the challenges, uphill battles, and achievements of some of the enterprising women of Denver who broke boundaries, inspired millions, and afforded opportunities for every marginalized citizen in the country. It's about time their untold story was told.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"The author's upbeat, conversational tone and clear affection for the focus of her work render this a fast-paced and riveting read, even if digressions into characters' backstories can at times take confusing twists and turns. A fascinating history of a feminist triumph." —Kirkus Reviews

"Though Williams frustratingly omits information on her sources, the narrative appears to be reconstructed from the incorporators' meeting notes. This makes for a lopsided reading experience, with some chapters indulging in excessive detail...while other developments seem to come out of nowhere...Further bogged down by hackneyed writing (the opening sentence reads...this is a missed opportunity." —Publishers Weekly

This information about Give Her Credit was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Grace L. Williams

Grace L. Williams is a financial media professional, insider trading expert, and accidental feminism and economics scholar. Her writing has been featured in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Harvard Business Review, Financial Advisor IQ, and RIA Intel, among many others.

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