PCUA Celebrates 70th Birthday

HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Credit Union Association turned 70 years old Dec. 8. The constitution and bylaws of the Pennsylvania Credit Union Association were signed in 1934 by 14 credit union representatives including H. Andrew Hanemann, the founder of Pennsylvania State Employees CU. He was subsequently elected as that credit union’s first president and managing director of the league. By the end of 1935, 149 federal credit unions were chartered in Pennsylvania, more than any other state in the U.S. In 1936, Julia Connor was named the league’s first full-time credit union managing director. After a 10-year struggle with the state legislature, the Pennsylvania Credit Union Act was signed by then-Gov. Gifford Pinchot on May 25, 1933. In 1933, nine CUs reported having a total 914 members with average deposits of $26 per member. There were 495 borrowers with a total of $22,141 in loans outstanding at the end of 1933. The first loss through bad debt was for $13. The first legally organized CU under the Pennsylvania Credit Union Act was Building & Needle Trade Workers CU, which holds Pennsylvania charter number 1. There are currently 671 CUs in Pennsylvania of which 598 are PCUA affiliated. Their total assets are $22.3 billion and total membership is 3.4 million.