| Eugene Black | |
| Office: | 6th Chairman of the Federal Reserve |
| President: | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Term Start: | May 19, 1933 |
| Term End: | August 15, 1934 |
| Predecessor: | Eugene Meyer |
| Successor: | Marriner S. Eccles |
| Office2: | Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors |
| President2: | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Term Start2: | May 19, 1933 |
| Term End2: | August 15, 1934 |
| Predecessor2: | Eugene Meyer |
| Successor2: | Marriner S. Eccles |
| Office3: | President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta |
| Term Start3: | August 15, 1934 |
| Term End3: | December 19, 1934 |
| Predecessor3: | W. S. Johns (Acting) |
| Successor3: | Oscar Newton |
| Term Start4: | January 13, 1928 |
| Term End4: | May 19, 1933 |
| Predecessor4: | Max Wellborn |
| Successor4: | W. S. Johns (Acting) |
| Birth Date: | 7 January 1873 |
| Birth Place: | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Education: | University of Georgia (BA) Atlanta Law School (LLB) |
Eugene Robert Black I (January 7, 1873 - December 19, 1934) was an American attorney and businessman who served as the 6th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1933 to 1934. Before and after his term as chairman, Black also served as the governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta from 1928 to 1933 and again from August 1934 until his death in December of the same year.
His eldest son, Eugene R. Black Sr., became the third president of the World Bank Group, serving from 1949 to 1962.
He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 7, 1873. He attended the University of Georgia, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity and the Phi Kappa Literary Society. Black practiced law for 28 years until he became president of the Atlanta Trust Company in 1921.
In 1928, he became Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He succeeded the longtime governor, Max Wellborn, who was also his daughter's father-in-law. When the Wall Street Crash of 1929 happened, he and two cashiers rushed to Nashville, Tennessee, to supply currency and credit to banks in the city and surrounding region. The situation worsened with other cities in the region experiencing bank runs.
Black kept his district afloat by rushing large quantities of cash to banks that were experiencing runs and extending credit to any bank that could offer any asset of value. He kept this policy active through the Great Depression into 1933. He, along with George L. Harrison, the governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, recommended open market purchases to increase reserves. His insistence on expansionist policies led to the President appointing Black to the Federal Reserve Board in 1933.[1]
In 1897, he married Gussie Grady, the daughter of Henry W. Grady, the Atlanta journalist and orator.[2] They had a son, Eugene Robert Black II.[3] Black died of a heart attack on December 19, 1934, in Atlanta, Georgia.[4]