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Record Group Number: 900000
Series/Collection Number: N2000- 5
Creator: Meyer, O. Kathryn Bell, 1909-1999
Title, Dates: Kathryn Bell Meyer papers, 1937-1993.
Amount: 0.75 cubic ft.
Medium Included: photographs
Organization/Arrangement: Alphabetical by subject.
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Biographical/Historical:     Kathryn Bell Meyer was born in 1909 in Sylacauga, Alabama. Known as "Kitty", she joined the Barnett National Bank of Jacksonville in 1937 as a stenographer and was secretary for several years to Don Barnett. In 1947 she became assistant cashier, the first woman in the bank to hold an officer title. She advanced to assistant vice president in 1952 and vice-president in 1956.

    In 1955, Meyer graduated from the School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University, specializing in commercial lending. She was one of the first four women graduates from the School of Banking, which was the first graduate level banking school in the South to admit women. Meyer paved the way for other women at Barnett Banks and, by 1960, six out of the Jacksonville bank's 52 officers were women.

    Meyer was very active in many banking organizations. She was the only woman who served as president of Jacksonville chapter American Institute of Banking in 1947. She also served as chairman of the Schools of Banking Committee of the National Association of Bank Women in 1948, secretary of the Jacksonville Clearing Association from 1955 to 1993, Florida vice president of the American Bankers Association in 1957, and chairman of the Bankers Forum Committee of the Florida Bankers Association in 1959. She was in Who's Who of American Women as Olive Kathryn Bell, banker, in 1958-1959. Her husband, Roland Meyer died in 1979, and she died in 1999 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Summary:     This collection documents Kathryn Bell Meyer's career as banker with Barnett National Bank of Jacksonville and her efforts to direct attention to the progress of women in the banking profession. The collection consists of her speech drafts about women in banking, how people handle their money/finance, and the banking business; minutes of the Jacksonville Clearing Association from 1965 to 1993 when she was secretary; and news clippings and publications about her role in the banking field and her opinions on the bank industry. It also contains a certificate of her degree and some unidentified photos from the 1930s and 1940s.

Finding Aids: Folder listing available. 0
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General Note: This collection was arranged and described from materials obtained from Barnett Banks, Inc. when the Barnett Bank records were transferred to the Florida State Archives between 1999 and 2002.

Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields: Bell, O. Kathryn
Banks and banking--History Florida
Women Florida
Women History 20th century Florida
Women bankers Florida.
Minutes. aat
Photographs. aat
Clippings. aat
Jacksonville (Fla.)
Added Entries Barnett National Bank of Jacksonville (Jacksonville, Fla.)