"I just got a job as an elevator operator over at the National Bank building. It’s the tallest building in town – has eight floors. I work all day riding up and down the elevator – opening the door at each floor -- I have to pull on a big handle to get the door open. It's a pretty heavy door. I make 68 cents a day. My father died this past year so it helps my mother a lot that I can work. It’s only the two of us now working to support the whole family – that includes my brother and four sisters."
-Marion Moss, Black female, age 16
Captions: Elevator operators from G. Fox & Co department store in Connecticut, circa 1940 (unknown collection); Exterior and interior images of the National Bank building in Kalamazoo, circa 1910 (KVM collection).
To find more historic photographs and artifacts related to banks in Kalamazoo, visit KVM's searchable collections database.