Main Street Monday — The Wright Brothers and their Banker

June 8, 2015

By Bob Coleman
Editor, Main Street Monday

I knew very little about the Dayton, Ohio, small-business owners of a bicycle shop until I just finished David McCullough’s history book about The Wright Brothers.

It’s a fantastic read about Main Street American entrepreneurial spirit, I give it a big-time thumbs up.

Anyway, much is made of Wilbur and Orville’s ability to change the world without a small business loan or a government grant — and rightly so.

However, buried in the book is an interesting fact that after the Wright Brothers came back from their successful flights in Kitty Hawk the two needed land for further flying experiments in Dayton.

That’s when the president of Fourth National Bank stepped up and offered his property on the outskirts of town rent-free, as long as they did not disturb the cows or horses!

A very notable example of a banker helping others fulfilling the American Dream.