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A Marked Safekeeping Receipt for Ms. Bessie Orr
Collection
The Safekeeping Receipt Collection
Format
Original paper receipt
Date
c. 1933
People
Ms. Bessie Orr; Bessie Orr; Elizabeth Orr
Michael Gladden Jr.; Michael Gladden
Location
Apopka, Florida, United States of America.
Historical Background
A marked safekeeping receipt for Ms. Bessie Orr., signed off by Michael Gladden Jr.
On the receipt, Ms. Orr deposited a total of $3.00 into her existing safekeeping account, totaling $53.00 on February 10th, 1934. Michael Gladden indicates that her account was paid in full on July 21st, 1934, under possible account number #6497.
At a time when Black Americans distrusted banks due to racial discrimination and the dawn of the Great Depression (1929-1939), Michael Gladden Jr. stepped up to become the community's safekeeper and banker. Mr. Gladden securely stored these special store receipts in one of three vaults in his storefront, M. Gladden Staple and Fancy Groceries. The earliest evidence of Michael Gladden's monetary safekeeping dates to 1931, when Apopka started to feel the effects of the Depression in full force.
