Alvin J. Boutte
Alvin J. Boutte, Sr. (October 10, 1929 – April 1, 2012) was an African American banker and businessman in Chicago, Illinois. He was co-founder, CEO, and chairman of Independence Bank – the largest Black-owned bank in the United States in the 1970s – and its holding company, Indecorp, Inc., which reclaimed that title in the 1990s with more than $200 million in assets. He was connected to many civil rights leaders of the 20th century, including Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson, and Harold Washington. The Chicago Tribune once described him as a "moderate militant." Early life Boutte was born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the youngest of 10 children in a Louisiana Creole family. His parents were Arthur Hyacinthe Boutte, Sr., and the former Adorea Darensbourg. Arthur Boutte was listed as an "odd-job laborer" in the 1930 census and an office janitor in the 1940 census. Growing up in Jim Crow Louisiana, the Bouttes faced racism and discrimination. Speaking of his father, Boutte told a biographer: "I can remember how he'd dress me up and we'd walk down to the voting place and they'd tell him, 'You know you can't vote.' He'd just walk back and try again