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Draft:Lillian Kasindorf Kavey

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Lillian Kasindorf Kavey (July 19, 1889 – May 10, 1986) was the first woman granted a banking license in New York State. She was granted the license in 1913 along with her husband.[1] Her sons later joined the banking business as well. She used her banking business to help Jewish immigrants. In 1923, she began her years-long focus of assisting Ethiopian Jews by purchasing farm equipment for them and advocating for them to immigrate to Israel. In the 1930s, she helped 125 Jewish families immigrate to the United States.[1]

Pawn broker

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Kavey ran a pawnshop in Port Chester, New York. Because she was fluent in German, Polish, Russian, Czech, and Italian, the European immigrants in the area found it easy to do business with her.[2]

Banking and travel business

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In the early 1900s, Kavey noticed that the Eastern European immigrants in her community were saving money under their mattresses in order to send to family members overseas to pay for their passage to New York. She pivoted her pawnshop business to a travel and loan agency. She accounted for each customer's savings and interest, and when there were enough funds, she purchased steamship passage for the customer's family members to come to New York. She also became well-known at Ellis Island since she personally traveled there to iron out any trouble with the immigration authorities.[2]

Community work

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She founded the Jewish Community Center of Port Chester and organized two clubs for boys during the Second World War.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Lillian Kasindorf Kavey". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  2. ^ a b Rossner, Toby (2014-04-24). "From pawnbroker to banker, Lillian Kasindorf Kavey". Jewish Rhode Island. Retrieved 2024-10-28.