OW AND AGAIN A STORY IS TOLD that people never tire of hearing. Such a story is "God Was Ready the Day the Banks Closed," a story so popular that it was printed four times in the Adventist Review.1 Yet while there are those who love its message, there are also those who have questioned its veracity.

In 2003 a research paper was submitted to Adventist Review editor William Johnsson about the oft-printed story.2 The paper, "Providence or Poppycock?" written in December 1988, concluded that the story, although presented by the Adventist Review as a factual account, was totally unfounded. The paper was shared as a way to accuse the Review of publishing a story that had not been thoroughly researched, therefore misleading its readers.

The 18-page paper listed several allegations, among them questions regarding the author, Emma Howell Cooper, and her ability to remember details of the event, questions regarding the timing of the event related to the banking crisis of 1933, and the competence of W. H. Williams, the treasurer involved.

 
Always interested in a good mystery, especially if it involves church history, I offered to research the story. I was struck by the researcher's conclusion: "If God was really behind Elder Williams' alleged actions on March 3, 1933, then it would only tend to show that God panicked along with Elder Williams and did not know that the banks were going back in business by the time that the money was normally supposed to be sent. Therefore it is appealing to me to believe that God had nothing to do with what Elder Williams is alleged to have done on March 3, 1933."3

That statement alone spurred me on to attempt to uncover what happened 70 years ago. I knew without a doubt that God had led this church not once, but many times. And with that premise, my research began.4

To Recap
The story took place in March 1933, when W. H. Williams, undertreasurer of the General Conference (GC), was impressed to take a trip to New York City to do some unscheduled banking transactions. Even before this his actions had been somewhat unusual. Periodically, he directed his secretary to place units of $1,000 in envelopes into an office safe with no further explanation as to why the cash was being kept separate from the other moneys.

Williams left Thursday, March 2, on the midnight train from Washington, D.C.'s Union Station and arrived in New York City early the next morning. When the banks opened for business, Williams proceeded to two different banks and made two separate transactions, which involved sending funds for three months in advance to most of the overseas missions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. His business completed, he left by train for Union Station, eventually arriving back in Takoma Park, Maryland.

At some point Williams awoke because the train had stopped. When he questioned a conductor about the delay, he was told that it was caused by a train accident. He relaxed and fell back asleep. Williams arrived in Takoma Park after sundown and walked home without meeting anyone.

The next morning, Sabbath, Williams slept in a little longer than usual. He was awakened by the sound of a newspaper boy hawking papers on the street outside his home. The headline shouted by the newsboy captured his attention: "Banks closed!" His piqued curiosity, coupled with his actions the previous day, caused him to act out of character and purchase a paper from the newsboy, even though it was Sabbath. The headlines indeed revealed that the nation's banks had closed, and Williams suddenly saw everything clearly. He spent the rest of that Sabbath rejoicing in the Lord's care and providence.

As the sun set, the phone rang bringing an urgent call from J. L. Shaw, GC treasurer, demanding a meeting in his office of General Conference officers immediately. Shaw hung up so abruptly that Williams had no time to tell him about his actions on Friday. He went to the meeting and found the officers distraught over the news of the day and wondering where the funds would come from to allow them to keep the missionaries in the field, as well as to pay employees' salaries, since no one knew when the banks would open again.

The meeting turned from a session of despair into a meeting of praise when Williams told them about his response to a strong impression to go to New York and transfer funds the previous day. The $1,000 deposits in the General Conference safe were just the amount needed to sustain the General Conference payroll. Instead of a widespread financial crisis, the church was able to withstand the closing of the banks. God had once again provided for His church.

Uncovering the Details

Verifying a story more than 70 years old is a tricky business. All the individuals involved have long since died, although there's still a fair amount of oral tradition in circulation. Some still live who recall hearing the story for the first time, or who worked with or knew the people involved. Without exception they endorse its veracity.5

The author of the story, Emma Howell Cooper, claimed she wrote it after she heard it in a General Conference worship talk by W. H. Williams. She was also an indirect witness, although at the time she was unaware of the significance. Cooper lived in the home of Chester Rogers, secretary to W. H. Williams. She writes that Rogers "did not 'talk shop' at home." But at some point she observes, "When he [Rogers] was desperate with fear that his fine boss was losing his mind because of Williams' prepreparation for this God-pressured duty, Chester came to me in confidence and asked me to pray with him that he would be led to do the right thing--should he report it all to the General Conference officers? He was literally tied from doing this, he had told me. When Mr. Williams related his experience in the GC chapel, some months later, I put it all together and remembered the story."6

In the story Chester Rogers wondered about Williams' activities, but didn't question him. Rogers primarily served General Conference presidents A. G. Daniels, W. A. Spicer, C. H. Watson, and J. L. McElhany from 1919 through the 1940s. He was a well-respected stenographer and office employee.7

W. H. Williams served as undertreasurer from 1930 to 1954.8 The president and treasurer of the General Conference were C. H. Watson and J. L. Shaw respectively. Each of these men made various comments about events in 1933 that were later printed in the Review. C. H. Watson wrote a letter in early March 1933 to conference and institutional leaders in North America. The letter was reprinted in the Review on April 20, 1933. Watson noted:

"We at the General Conference headquarters have been wonderfully helped in the present situation. We are sure that it was the Spirit of God that led us, at the first indication of banking difficulties, to take steps, even before the national emergency became acute, to have sufficient cash funds so placed that our work has thus far suffered no hold up, even with all the banks closed."9

In 1936 J. L. Shaw referred to the banking crisis: "Another provision of the General Conference which has helped much during the period of depression has been the reserve fund accumulated during more favorable years to meet the need of such emergency. According to this provision, a sum equal to three months' salary and expense of the work and workers was put aside in readily convertible securities to tide over in an emergency. With this assistance, while other mission boards were borrowing money at the banks or recalling missionaries, or both, our Mission Board has called no missionaries home."10

The Review reported another reference from C. H. Watson at the General Conference session in 1936: "It will be recalled that in this country at one time every bank was closed by Presidential decree. Had I the time tonight to tell you the marvelous and providential ways in which we were led it would thrill your hearts, but let me say simply, without giving you the details, that entirely without any human wisdom or sacrifice and merely upon the impressions that were made upon our hearts by the Spirit of the Lord, the General Conference, when that moment of crisis and bank closure was reached, was financially prepared for it. We were led in that preparation definitely by the Spirit of God."11

The Banking Crisis

General Conference correspondence and Treasury archives reveal that the General Conference held an account in the Takoma Park bank, located across the street from the world headquarters. No historical records from 1933 document any withdrawals or deposits with any bank by the General Conference.

The New York banks present a more difficult area to research. The General Conference Committee minutes record dealings with three New York banks during this period: National City Bank, Bank of Manhattan, and Chase National Bank. The minutes specifically reference the National City Bank and Chase National Bank as holding mission accounts.

One letter, dated March 2, 1933, was found in the archives from the Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C., to GC Treasury that acknowledges completing cables amounting to $175,000 per instructions in a February 28 letter to eight different overseas locations. This amount is close to one twelfth of the total amount set for foreign missions in 1933 and may refer to the monthly appropriation sent to the mission fields. Knowing this money was requested to be cabled at the end of February from a Washington, D.C., bank makes the suggested actions of Williams in New York even more surprising. We are told in the story that Williams had recently sent the monthly mission appropriations and because of this wondered at his own actions, but he followed the strong impression anyway, sending several months' appropriations in advance. This letter may be further evidence proving the story, but since no further correspondence corroborates it, we are left only to speculate.

Most Americans remember two major financial events, either from direct experience or through history classes: the stock market crash of 1929, and the closing of the banks in 1933.

The suddenness and severity of the 1929 stock market crash on Thursday, October 24, took most by surprise and earned it the name "Black Thursday." During the following days, many thought that prominent bankers might intervene and save the financial situation as they had done in 1907. But they did not. Five days later on October 29, later to be known as "Black Tuesday," another wave of panic selling occurred that sealed the fate of the market.

Financial conditions continued to spiral downward, and near the end of 1932 there were doubts whether the United States economic system would survive. More than one quarter of the workforce was unemployed. Throughout the country people lost their jobs, their financial savings, their houses and land. Much of the blame fell on Herbert Hoover, president of the United States. Although Hoover made an effort to solve the banking crisis and institute programs to turn financial conditions around, there was little doubt that he would lose reelection. In November 1932 a large majority elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt president.

Until 1937, the inauguration of the president occurred in March; Roosevelt would not be inaugurated until March 4. Hoover served as a lame-duck president for four months. The banking system continued to experience a series of difficulties, and as banks in rural areas began to fail, the panic spread to the cities. Nervous depositors began withdrawing their savings. As the panic escalated, they also began demanding gold or gold certificates because of their lack of faith in paper currency.

Pressure continued to be placed on Hoover to take action to close banks to end the ongoing failure, but he was reticent to act, preferring to pass the problem on to the incoming administration. State governors began taking it upon themselves to head off the widespread panic by inventing holidays for banks to "celebrate." By the end of February 1933, the governors of Indiana, Maryland, Arkansas, and Ohio had declared bank holidays of all sorts.

Just days before Roosevelt's inauguration, a nationwide rush to withdraw bank deposits and the demand for gold put a strain on New York banks, threatening to push the entire banking system to the edge of financial collapse. Pressure was placed on Herbert Lehman, who had succeeded Franklin Roosevelt as governor of New York, to close New York's banks. He rejected the suggestion because halting all banking operations in the nation's financial center would cripple the rest of the country's system.

By March 3 the number of bank closings and failures was increasing and it was clear that some action must be taken. Hoover was again pressured to proclaim a nationwide bank holiday. But because he would be out of office the next day, he saw no need to act. New York, seeing no action coming from Washington, decided to reverse their decision about a statewide bank holiday, and late on the evening of Friday, March 3, declared all banks in the state of New York closed as of March 4. Immediately state governors followed New York's lead, and by midnight March 3 banks in all 48 states were closed.

All banks were effectively closed on March 4 with the exception of those in Washington, D.C., which remained open until March 5. But the bank holiday most Americans are familiar with was yet to come. President Roosevelt was inaugurated that same day. Immediately after his inauguration the Senate approved his cabinet choices, and the entire cabinet was sworn in during a single ceremony at the White House. On Sunday, March 5, the cabinet along with the treasury and federal reserve officials met, and at 1:00 a.m. on Monday, March 6, President Roosevelt declared an immediate and indefinite bank holiday.12

Williams' Actions in Detail

Thousand-Dollar Withdrawals. Cooper reported that Williams withdrew money from the bank in $1,000 increments for some time prior to March 1933, and placed the funds in a safe. In light of the events in 1932, this just may have been prudent business practice. He was certainly aware of the possibility of a crisis; he may simply have been following good business practice or demonstrating his own level of "panic." One thousand dollars in 1933 was a lot of money (equivalent to about $14,500 today) to place in reserve with no plan of action, let alone several units of $1,000.

The Train Trip Home. Once his bank transactions in New York were completed, Williams boarded the train for Washington, D.C., then a streetcar for Takoma Park. Assuming the banks opened around 9:00 a.m., and he took an hour or so to transact his business, this would place him on a late-morning train headed home.

Williams couldn't have picked a worse day to travel by train. The next day, March 4, was Roosevelt's inauguration. Thousands of New Yorkers attended the former New York governor's inauguration, and they went by train. The huge numbers of travelers prompted the Friday edition of the Evening Star to run an article describing the volume: ". . . throngs were pouring through every portal of the city to witness the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the thirty-second President."13

The article went on: "In the bustle of the downtown streets, jammed with visitors--in the bustle of traffic bringing thousands through the highway entrances--amid the roar of more than 200 crowded trains pouring their thousands through the railroad station--there grew in the city the gay carnival spirit which even the worst depression the country ever has known could not deny....

"Early this morning the Union Station was packed and jammed with special and regular trains, and the station masters found it necessary to stop some trains at the outskirts of the city, at Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue southeast and at Bennings, to allow visitors to make their way into the city....

"New York, alone, today was sending nearly 10,000 on 30 special trains to the Capital [sic]. Pennsylvania, nearly as many, and from throughout the South, the East, the Middle West, even the Far West, came trainloads, busloads, airplane loads, and from Chesapeake Bay came boatloads."

The number of people coming into the city taxed the existing transportation system. The high volume of trains on the tracks coupled with the high number of important visitors being given special priority could easily delay a train. Cooper reported that Williams' train was switched onto a siding and he was told it was "due to an accident up ahead." Although the conductor might have said such a thing, the delay was probably because of the increased railway traffic. The United States Department of Transportation14 keeps a log of all train accidents, and it has no report of an accident that day between New York and Washington. In any event, in all probability Williams' train took longer than usual to arrive in Washington.

Newspaper Headlines. Several newspapers were available to Williams in 1933.15 We don't know if they were all sold on the streets of Takoma Park, but since Takoma Park was along the Washington, D.C., line it is probable that the main newspapers of the day were available.

Of the Washington, D.C., newspapers, only the Daily News carried an account that Saturday morning about the bank closure. All the papers that weekend carried volumes of information about the inauguration, but there were no glaring, two-inch headlines across the front page of any newspaper that day. The Daily News carried two front-page headlines, each just less than two column inches, referring to the bank closures. The first stated: "45 States Restrict Banking Operations by Laws or Decrees, Action in New York Is Taken After All-Night Conferences of State, Federal Authorities," and the other: "Banks Closed or Restricted in 45 States, State-Wide Moratoria Issued by Governors for Periods Varying From Two to 15 Days or Emergency Laws Enacted." The Daily News also carried a half-inch headline in bold letters across the business page: "Banks Are Suspending Thruout the United States."

The newspaper boy's pronouncement, "Extra! Extra!" implies an extra edition of the paper. Extra editions were rarely archived. Often when newspapers were microfilmed at a later date, the individual doing the archiving knew only to look for each day's date, so extras were frequently omitted. It is highly probable that, in this instance, we are hearing Cooper's own dramatic voice in retelling the story, or perhaps Williams himself. A reasonable guess is that the newspaper boy was trying to sell papers, and, as the inauguration hadn't yet occurred that day, the bank closures were late-breaking news and something easily yelled to attract readers.

A Saturday Night Meeting: An Unresolved Problem. According to Cooper, as soon as the sun set, the phone rang, and J. L. Shaw told Williams of an emergency meeting in his office. Obviously, the news of the day had traveled fast enough so that by the end of the Sabbath, it was well known even if one had not yet read the newspaper.

In February 1934 an article in the Review by J. L. Shaw describes some of the events during March 1933: "In the midst of the financial perplexities in the first quarter of 1933, came the banking holiday. Banks closing everywhere brought real concern, for our missionaries depend largely on what is sent them month by month from the General Conference treasury. The bank where mission appropriations were kept was still open as the officers of the General Conference gathered in the treasurer's office that eventful day. As they sat about the council table, after some figuring it was found there was enough money in the bank to send our mission fields two months' appropriations in advance. Though we did not know it, hours were marking the time when the President's proclamation would close every bank in the country. The officers were led to take quick action, and on short order practically to every division field, either by cable or by mail, two months' remittances were sent upon their appointed way.

"I wish to bear witness as treasurer to my belief that a divine hand intervened. He who knew of the few hours remaining before the President's proclamation would close every bank and the concern it would have been, not only to our missionaries, but to all our people, Himself took charge and helped us to do better than we knew. I must not fail to tell you also what a sense of security this experience brought to me personally during those terrifying and protracted hours of the bank holiday. They brought renewed assurance that God cares for His work."16

A close look at Shaw's statement reveals important detail concerning the events at that time. He verifies that a meeting took place with the General Conference officers. He mentions that the bank where mission appropriations were kept was still open as the officers gathered together on that eventful day.

We know from other correspondence that the Takoma Park bank was already closed by this time, so his statement could refer to a New York or Washington, D.C., bank still in operation. "The bank was still open" can mean: (a) open during working hours; (b) open as opposed to closed by state government; or (c) open as opposed to presidential proclamation. The only day the bank could have been open for working hours was Friday or Saturday, and we know Friday was not an "eventful" day in terms of the banking crisis. The bank in New York would have been closed by state government on Saturday, and Sunday was neither a working day for a bank nor an eventful day. By Monday the banks were closed by presidential proclamation.

From Shaw's descriptive criteria he remembered either Saturday, March 4, or Monday, March 6. March 3 was a Friday and a working day both for banks and the General Conference. The officers certainly could have met on this day to make some banking decisions, but other than Williams' suggested activities, it doesn't meet the criteria of an "eventful day." If they did meet on that day and Williams was in New York, he would have been missed. If there was a meeting that occurred during the working day, some minutes would exist for such a meeting. But there are no minutes for March 3, although there are for March 2 and 6. It should be noted that W. H. Williams did not attend the March 2 meeting. No reference is made in either meeting concerning the banking crisis or in any subsequent officers' meetings.

Shaw goes on to say, "Though we did not know it, hours were marking the time when the President's proclamation would close every bank in the country." This statement also narrows the time period to Sabbath, March 4, or Sunday, March 5. Shaw refers to cabling money to the divisions prior to the bank closing; this could have occurred only on Friday, March 3. By March 4 the banks were closed in New York. The Washington, D.C., banks were still open on March 4, not closing officially until March 5. While this might be what Shaw was referring to, it still remains problematic, since March 4 was a Sabbath and cables would not have been sent. If the officers met that Saturday evening, the bank, although still officially open, would have been closed for business.

J. L. Shaw made the above statement almost a full year later. His statement may not be exactly how it occurred, but as he remembered it. Several statements by church leaders regarding this time of financial crisis were made, and not one contains the complete story. They allude to being led by God to make decisions that secured the mission field, but always stop short of providing definitive details. It's possible that the ambiguity is deliberate. By purposely leaving the details to speculation, and simply allowing for God's guidance for His church, Williams is protected from any implication that he acted inappropriately.

Conclusions

Can we know exactly what happened in March 1933? Not with absolute certainty. With all the original people involved long gone and no obvious documentation in the form of bank statements, train tickets, or correspondence, there is no one element that proves the events occurred just as Cooper wrote in her story.

We Want to Know More There are doubtless other details about this fascinating story that haven't been told--yet. If you know or are related to one or more of the individuals mentioned in this story, and you can provide additional information, details, or photographs, contact the author c/o Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904; or via e-mail at: poirierm@gc.adventist.org.

After spending hours piecing the events together, I cannot absolutely prove the story happened, but what I did uncover was enough for me to believe with confidence that evidence points to something happening. If the events unfolded as she wrote them or under somewhat different circumstances, I am confident that once again God intervened to save His church.


There was a secondary benefit to the events that unfolded in 1933. It is clear from reading the remarks made by church leaders that God's intervention in the banking crisis gave them courage. This knowledge upheld their faith and sustained them during years of increasing financial difficulty. The reason this story finds itself easily into the hearts of Seventh-day Adventists is that it upholds our belief that God loves His church and will sustain it through troublesome times.

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1 "God Was Ready the Day the Banks Closed," Adventist Review, Sept. 13, 1979. The other printings were Nov. 21, 1991, December 1993, and Aug. 31, 2000.
2 Dennis Hokama, "Providence or Poppycock?" originally submitted to Adventist Currents in 1988. The article was scheduled to be printed in Adventist Currents just as the journal expired.
3 Ibid., p. 8.
4 This article is excerpted from a lengthier research paper by Merle Poirier. To read the paper, click here.
5 Many interviews were conducted among church leaders and family members, who endorsed the account not because of any absolute evidence, but simply because they knew the people involved and the actions were totally in character. Milton Murray, former director of Philanthropic Services Institute and a nephew of W. H. Williams through his second marriage, remembers staying in the Williams' home in Takoma Park, Maryland, when he was a young man. He recalls a conversation in which Williams confirmed his involvement in the incident.
6 Letter to J. C. Kogel from Emma Howell Cooper, Nov. 15, 1974, p. 1.
7 Review and Herald, Jan. 29, 1948, p. 20, obituary of Chester Leroy Rogers. He died at age 53 in Takoma Park, Maryland, on December 24, 1947.
8 Review and Herald, Oct. 5, 1961, p. 26, obituary of Will Herbert Williams. A similar obituary is seen in the Pacific Union Recorder, Oct. 2, 1961.
9 C. H. Watson (General Conference president), "The World-Wide Field," Review and Herald, Apr. 20, 1933, p. 17.
10 J. L. Shaw, "Report of the General Conference Treasurer," Review and Herald, May 29, 1936, p. 30.
11 "Proceedings of the General Conference, Thirty-fourth Meeting," Review and Herald, June 18, 1936, p. 296.
12 After the declaration of the Emergency Banking Act, banks were divided into three categories: banks who were in no danger of failing, banks who were endangered institutions, but thought to be capable of recovering, and those who were insolvent and not allowed to reopen. By March 13 some banks were given permission to open. By March 15 banks controlling 90 percent of the country's banking resources had resumed operations.
13 The Evening Star, Friday, Mar. 3, 1933, p. 1.
14 http://dotlibrary.specialcollection.net/. Check listings under I.C.C. Historical Railroad Investigation Reports (1911-1966).
15 There were six papers available in March 1933: Washington Daily News, Washington Herald, Washington Post, Washington Times, Washington Tribune, and The Evening Star. The Washington Tribune was an African-American paper. The Daily News, Herald, Post, and Times were morning papers. The Evening Star came out in the late afternoon, so it could not have been the paper that Williams bought Sabbath morning. That left the remaining four papers of which only the Daily News carried an account. The Herald, Post, and Times did not carry any information about the bank closure of New York banks or of the other states that closed their banks until Sunday morning, March 5.
16 J. L. Shaw, "The Triumphs of 1933 and the Challenge of 1934," Review and Herald, Feb. 1, 1934, p. 8.

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Merle Poirier is technical projects coordinator for the Adventist Review. This article is a result of a research paper written in September 2003.