A leading Philadelphia banker announced here this evening that his bank, the largest in this city, was actively looking for Jewish applicants who might eventually qualify for top positions. Addressing the annual dinner meeting of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, John R. Bunting, Jr., executive vice-president of the First Pennsylvania Banking and Trust company, said that his firm was seeking to eliminate “the subtle anti-Jewish atmosphere that the young Jewish trainee thinks he feels” in American commercial banks by bringing “a leading Jewish figure into the power structure of our bank.” The bank is the largest in Philadelphia.
The banker’s announcement followed an American Jewish Committee report two months ago, charging that prejudice and discrimination were virtually excluding qualified Jews from executive positions in the nation’s leading commercial banks. The AJC chapter honored Mr. Bunting with its annual Human Relations Award. In presenting the award, a silver medallion, Robert K. Greenfield, president of the chapter, said that “Mr. Bunting’s efforts in behalf of equal employment opportunities have provided a model for major industry and finance” in the Philadelphia area.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
