The Papers of "Mr. Long Island"
Come Home to Long Island University
Archives of Legendary Banker Arthur T. Roth
Trace His Groundbreaking Career
January 4, 2000 - 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' 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 1970s. By challenging traditional banking practices
and creating new services, Roth turned 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
1950s, 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 '60s, and shortly thereafter,
it collapsed, nearly causing a worldwide fiasco. The bank was
taken over by European American Bank, which today carries out
Roth's consumer-driven philosophy. Coincidentally, EAB's current
CEO, Edward Travaglianti, is also a trustee of Long Island University
and Chancellor of its Brooklyn Campus.
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 his personal
archive of papers, journals and memories.
Arthur Roth's papers are now 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 the
extensive services of the Center for Business Research, call
(516) 299-2832 or email mcooney@liu.edu
