History of the FDIC
FDIC Exhibit: A History of Confidence and Stability
The exhibit takes you through our history and explores how the FDIC and the banking industry have changed over time. This virtual exhibit is based on the exhibit located at the FDIC building in Washington, DC.
Historical Timeline
A chronology of the FDIC and other banking events from the 1700's to 2005.
Who is the FDIC?
A summary of the mission, vision, and purpose of the FDIC. Learn more
Birth of the FDIC
Listen to President Franklin D. Roosevelt speak to the nation regarding the banking crisis on March 12, 1933.
This is the list of those who served as Chairman (or Acting Chairman) since the FDIC's inception in 1933.
FDIC Board Member Archive
Statements, speeches, and other materials from former board members.
Historical Perspectives
Read historical studies of deposit insurance from the 1930s through the crises of the early 2000s.
Video History of the FDIC
Your Bank Has Failed: What Happens Next? - The FDIC was featured on CBS 60 Minutes on May 31, 2009, taking over a failed bank.
FDIC Exhibit Shows Economic History (Courtesy of News Channel 4, Washington, DC)
50 Year of FDIC History - In a TV report from July 1983, Jane Bryant Quinn on CBS Morning News reviews 50 years of FDIC history. This video also includes speeches from then-Chairman William Isaac and then-Vice President George Bush.
The Geography of Bank Failure - This video shows an animated history of bank failures in the United States from 1921 through 2018.
FDIC Historic Pictures
On June 16, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1933, a part of which established the FDIC.
At Roosevelt's immediate right and left were Sen. Carter Glass of Virginia and Rep. Henry Steagall of Alabama, the two most prominent figures in the bill's development.
The first Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was sworn in at the Treasury Department, Washington, D.C., on September 11, 1933.
From left, E. G. Bennett, FDIC Director: Walter J. Cummings, FDIC Chairman; J. F. T. O'Connor, Comptroller of the Currency and FDIC Board Member. Administering the oath is J. F. Douglas of the Treasury Department.
On July 5, 1934, Mrs. Lydia Lobsiger received the first federal deposit insurance disbursement, following the failure of the Fond Du Lac State Bank in East Peoria, Illinois. Photo: UPI