News Release: Papers of Arthur T. Roth
Center for Business Research
The Papers of "Mr. Long Island" Come Home to Long Island University
Archives of Legendary Banker Arthur T. Roth Trace His Groundbreaking Career
The papers and memorabilia which trace the
groundbreaking career of innovative Long Island banker
Arthur T. Roth - credited with introducing the bank credit
card and drive up teller window - have been donated to
Long Island University by his son, Donald Roth, a 1964
graduate of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island
University in Brookville. The Roth Papers, now housed in
the Campus's Center for Business Research, are the first
installment of a collection of primary sources documenting
prominent Long Island business leaders and institutions.
Fondly known as "Mr. Long Island", Arthur Roth played a
key role in the development of Long Island banking from
1926 through the 1970's. By challenging traditional
banking practices and creating new services, Roth turned
the floundering Franklin Square National Bank into the
18th largest bank in the nation. Above all, he placed his
confidence in the consumer and his energy into consumer
needs. Among his countless changes, Roth made loans
and mortgages readily accessible and banks more user
friendly. In the course of building the bank, Roth financed
the homes and businesses that built Long Island.
With the same spirit, Roth made innovations that have
changed today's workplace. He pioneered smoking bans
as early as the 1950's, encouraged the hiring of
handicapped personnel, and worked diligently for
community, educational and cultural causes, including
service as a Trustee of Long Island University from 1954
to 1976. Despite his diligence and commitment, Roth was
forced out of Franklin Square National Bank in the late
'60's, and shortly thereafter, it collapsed, nearly causing a
worldwide fiasco. The bank was taken over by European
American Bank.
Arthur Roth died in 1997, at the age of 91, but his legacy
continues. The building which houses C.W.Post's College
of Management bears his name, and his impact can be
explored by researchers and studied by students for many
generations through personal archive of papers, journals,
and memories.
Arthur Roth's papers are now a part of the permanent
collection of the Center for Business Research in the B.
Davis Schwartz Memorial Library at the C.W. Post
Campus of Long Island University. The campus is located
on Northern Boulevard (Route 25A) in Brookville, New
York. For more information about this collection or
extensive services of the Center for Business Research, call
(516) 299-2832 or email mcooney@liu.edu.
December 21, 1999
Media Contact:
Rita Langdon
(516) 299-2334
rita.langdon@liu.edu
Linda McCormack
& Andrea Scoma
cbr@cwpost.liu.edu
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