Hillard, M. Grace

Minnie Grace Hillard was a Brooklyn native; born in the borough on January 15, 1918, she attended P.S. 93 in Bedford-Stuyvesant. In 1935, at the age of 17, she began work at the Brooklyn-based Brevoort Savings Bank. Notably, Hillard was appointed as one of the first female officers of the bank and the first female vice president in July 1965. She retired after 41 years of service. Late in her tenure with the institution, the bank merged with and became known as Metropolitan Savings Bank, which was again changed to Crossland Savings Bank in 1985. Hillard died in Rhinebeck, N.Y. in 1998.

From the guide to the Minnie Grace Hillard collection, 1925-1986, (Brooklyn Historical Society)