What is a credit union?

Think back over the last month. How many times have you heard someone ask, “What is a credit union?”

If you have worked in this movement for more than five minutes, you have heard the question. It feels current, but it has deep roots.

In fact, in 1923, the same question was being asked. Fewer than 284 credit unions existed nationwide, and only 24 states had enacted credit union laws. Growth was gaining momentum, but many still did not really understand what a credit union was.

One person who understood the risk of that gap was Roy Bergengren, an attorney turned crusader who helped ignite and expand the early credit union movement nationwide. He knew that if people did not understand what made credit unions different, growth alone would not sustain the movement. So he set out to solve a deceptively simple problem.

How might we explain what a credit union is in a way people instantly understand and remember?

To help answer that question, Bergengren reached out to Joseph Stern, an illustrator and cartoonist known for his editorial work at the Boston Herald. He asked Stern to create something that could quickly, visually, and emotionally explain the purpose of a credit union without requiring a speech, a pamphlet or a financial background.

Stern delivered.

The result was a simple but powerful image. A small man standing under an umbrella, shielded from hard times, sickness and financial distress. Above him, the words “Credit Union.”

The Little Man Under the Umbrella, commonly known today as the Umbrella Man, quickly became one of the most recognizable symbols in the credit union movement.

Rather than limiting its use, Bergengren encouraged the symbol to be shared across the country. Credit unions, leagues and employees embraced it as both a teaching tool and a badge of identity.

The Umbrella Man was created to answer a simple question for the public: What is a credit union? It quickly became a symbol people recognized and trusted. The image appeared everywhere, on statements, passbooks, ashtrays, matches, pens and nearly every piece of marketing collateral imaginable. While it helped consumers understand the purpose of a credit union, it also created an unexpected connection among credit union employees. Whether worn or shared, it allowed employees to recognize one another instantly, often before a single word was exchanged. It became a shared language across the movement.

As the movement grew, the Umbrella Man traveled with it. By 1969, the credit union movement reached a peak of 23,866 cooperatives nationwide. In the decades that followed, the Umbrella Man became less visible. The values remained, but the shared symbol quietly faded in use.

Until recently.

About three years ago, we set out to bring the Umbrella Man back into the light. Not as a nostalgic exercise, but as a reminder. I want my future grandkids to have a credit union to work at one day. That belief comes with responsibility. If the movement forgets why it exists, growth and relevance will eventually disappear.

In 2023, that mission took tangible form with the launch of UmbrellaMan.org.

The intent was threefold.

First, to give people an easy way to learn about the history and meaning behind the Umbrella Man and to wear the symbol proudly once again.

Second, to generate awareness for America’s Credit Union Museum, located in Manchester, New Hampshire, where the first credit union in the United States opened its doors in 1908, La Caisse Populaire, Ste-Marie (The People’s Bank), now St. Mary’s Bank.

Third, to generate financial support for the museum and the preservation of credit union history.

Every dollar of profit from UmbrellaMan.org goes directly to America’s Credit Union Museum.

Since May 2023, there have been 800+ orders totaling more than $100,000 in sales, generating nearly $30,000 in donations for the museum. Executive Director Stephanie Smith notes that the partnership has “introduced new people to the museum” and brought “fresh energy and visibility” to the museum’s work. Fittingly, the museum is home to the largest known collection of original Joseph Stern Little Man artwork.

The success of the site has reinforced something many in the movement already know. Symbols matter. Stories matter. And shared identity still has power.

So what is a credit union?

What we are can be found in products, rates and services. That part does not define us. Who we are is something deeper. We are People Helping People. We exist to shield members from financial hardship and to stand with them through every season of life, especially when the right answer is guidance, not a transaction.

Nearly a century ago, the Umbrella Man helped answer that question in a way words alone could not. Today, he is doing it again.

Sometimes, moving the movement forward means remembering what got us here.