National-Dime Bank East End Branch – Photo from Shamokin News-Dispatch July 1958

In 1932 the Dime Trust and Safe Deposit Company merged with the Shamokin National Bank to become the National-Dime Bank of Shamokin. National-Dime was one of the largest financial institutions in Shamokin serving customers with personal and commercial loans, Christmas clubs, and savings and checking accounts. The bank’s corporate offices and main branch were located at the corner of Market and Independence Streets in downtown Shamokin, the current location of M&T Bank. In March of 1968 the National-Dime Bank merged with The Pennsylvania National Bank and Trust Company of Pottsville.

Pennsylvania National Bank And Trust Company Logo, circa 1968

In 1958, The National-Dime Bank of Shamokin was in expansion mode. A merger with the First National Bank of Trevorton was completed on May 28th 1958 with the Trevorton Branch of The National-Dime Bank opening on June 2nd. Around the same time, renovations were underway at the corner of Independence and Shamokin Streets for what would become the East End branch of National-Dime and their third location.

Advertisement promoting the National-Dime Bank East End Branch Open House – Shamokin News-Dispatch July 14th 1958

The official grand opening of the East End branch commenced on July 15th 1958 with an open house celebration. The open house was attended by directors of the National-Dime Bank, local leaders and featured a live broadcast by WISL Radio.

National-Dime Bank East End Branch ribbon cutting – Shamokin News-Dispatch July 16th 1958

It’s not surprising that WISL Radio would be on-hand to help promote the opening of the new, modern banking facility considering Henry W. Lark, owner of WISL Radio, was also the president of The National-Dime Bank of Shamokin.

National-Dime Bank Grand Opening article – Shamokin News-Dispatch July 16th 1958

The WISL Broadcast took place from 4pm to 10pm and featured interviews with a number of people of interest who were in attendance. The audio clip that we have to share includes one of those notable persons, Mary Roebling.

Mary Roebling was a pioneer for women in banking, becoming the President of Trenton Trust in 1937 and also the first woman ever to become president of a banking institution. When Roebling took control of Trenton Trust, the country was in the throws of The Great Depression and the bank was facing $4 million dollars in debt with only $11 million dollars in assets. By 1951, she not only was able to pull her bank through the financial crisis but also increased the banks assets to $70 million dollars. That same year she also scored the bank’s biggest client to date by securing the business of U.S. Steel.

Roebling lent her success to the cause of women’s rights and constantly promoted women in business and spoke out against sexism in the boardroom. In addition to becoming the first woman to serve as a bank president she was also the first woman governor on the American Stock Exchange, was the founder of the first female-owned bank, the Woman’s Bank of Denver in 1978 and first woman member of Union League Club in Philadelphia.

WISL transcription disc Label from Mary Roebling Interview

Roebling was a friend and colleague of Henry Lark and made the trip from Trenton to Shamokin for the open house event. In the following audio exhibit, we have a rare recording of Roebling as she congratulates Henry Lark on his expansion of National-Dime. This recording was likely made on premise at the new East End branch and broadcast during the 4pm to 10pm broadcast.

AUDIO EXHIBIT

Mary Roebling at the Grand Opening of The National-Dime Bank East End Branch, July 15th, 1958

Tom Kutza Presents Stanley Coveleski with an award (1969)

Stanley Coveleski was born Stanislaus Kowalewski on July 13th 1889 in Shamokin, PA. He was a 5 foot, 11 inch, right handed pitcher that made his major league debut in 1912 with the Philadelphia Athletics. Through 1928, Coveleski would play for the Cleveland Indians, The Washington Senators and The New York Yankees. He had a 60% win-loss record in 357 games with a 2.89 ERA. He led the league twice with 38 career shutouts, once in ERA and once in Strikeouts. During the 1920 World Series, he had an ERA of 0.67 and beat the Brooklyn Dodgers three times (3-1, 5-1 and 3-0), a record that stood for 26 years, only to be tied, never beaten. It’s interesting to note that Stanley’s brother, Harry was also a famous baseball player, and was known as “The Giant Killer.”

“The Silent Pole” at the height of his career

When his career ended in 1928, Coveleski retired to Indiana, operating a gas station as a post baseball career. Although out of baseball for almost 40 years, Stanley’s accomplishments had not been forgotten. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY in 1969. It was on this occasion that he once again returned to his hometown, and spent some time with WISL’s Tom Kutza to recount his successful baseball career. Presented here is that very interview, and a rare glimpse into the world of baseball’s infant age told through the experiences of Shamokin’s Hall of Fame Hero, Stanley Coveleski.

In July of 2017, the story of this interview got the attention of WHP-TV CBS 21 in Harrisburg and reporter Jason Bristol visited Tom to get the full story. You can watch the full story below.