The HistoryMakers video oral history with Alvin J. Boutte, Sr

Summary

Bank chief executive and financial chief executive Alvin Boutte, Sr., was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 1929. Boutte earned his B.S. from Xavier University in 1951. Only two years later, Bout...

Bank chief executive and financial chief executive Alvin Boutte, Sr., was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 1929. Boutte earned his B.S. from Xavier University in 1951. Only two years later, Boutte became the president and owner of Independent Drug Stores in 1953. In 1964, Boutte co-founded Independence Bank in Chicago, where he also served as vice chairman. Six years later, he was the CEO and chairman of Independence Bank and Drexel National Bank. He then became CEO of Indecorp, the holding company which owned the two smaller banks and the largest African American-owned financial institution in the country. Before retiring in 1995, Boutte remained active in a number of organizations, including the Chicago Board of Education and the Metropolitan YMCA. The Chicago Urban League named him Man of the Year in 1971, and Black Enterprise honored him for his commitment to the African American community in 1990. Boutte passed away in 2012.

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