Oberlin's Women: A Legacy of Leadership & Activism

Mabel Thompson

Mabel Frances Thompson (1889-1977, OC 1912) was an educator and bank official. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1912 with a B.A. in English. Between 1912 and 1918 she taught English at a Canton, Pennsylvania high school, where she was also head of the English department. With America’s entry into World War I, Thompson worked as an assistant in the employment department of DuPont Engineering. She was employed as a special investigator by the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor in 1919 before becoming an employment manager for Bristol-Meyers in 1920. Thompson began working in the banking industry in 1921 as the manager of the Women’s Department of the Fidelity Trust Co. She held this position until 1924 when she became the director of the service department at the Union Dime Savings Bank. She was appointed the assistant secretary in charge of public relations in 1947, the first woman officer to be employed by the Union Dime Savings Bank. Thompson was extremely active in the banking world. She was elected as the regional vice-president for the Middle Atlantic division of the Association of Bank Women in 1954. She had previously held the position of corresponding secretary for the organization and had been a past president of the Savings Bank Women of New York. Thompson was part of the Personal Money Management Committee of the American Bankers Association and gave many lectures and speeches during her career in banking. She retired from the Union Dime Savings Bank in 1956.

Sources:
Student File (Mabel Frances Thompson), Alumni & Development Records, O.C.A.

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