HISTORY LESSON Don't miss the ICBA ThinkTECH Innovation Showcase This year's cohort of 10 fintechs will show off their solutions at this virtual event on Tuesday, March 16. Go to icba.org/thinktech for details. Deborah Powers was one of the first women to start a bank in the U.S. Women at the helm These three women bank presidents were pioneers in the American financial system. Deborah Powers (1790-1891) The widowed Powers successfully ran her husband's oilcloth manufacturing business and then established the bank D. Powers & Sons in Troy, N.Y., in 1877. It was a family business operated with the help of her sons Albert and Nathaniel. Powers managed the bank until her death at age 101. Louise M. Weiser (1837-1898) The earliest known woman bank president in the U.S. was born in Vermont and settled in Decorah, Iowa, when she married Horace Weiser around 1860. She took over Winnesheik County Bank when Horace died, serving as president for nearly 20 years. Leila Comstock (1873-1895) Comstock was assistant cashier and bookkeeper at the Comstock Banking Company in Green City, Mo. In 1892, when she was 18 years old, she was appointed president of the bank's original location. -Julie Kendrickhttp://www.icba.org/thinktech