Harold S. Gorman was born in Carlin, Nevada, in 1903. He moved with his family to Reno as a child. There, he attended local schools and trained for a profession in banking. His parents were prominent members of the community, his father being comptroller and briefly acting president of the University of Nevada.

After attending the university, Harold Gorman began a career in banking in Reno, becoming successively a bank messenger boy, a teller, a cashier and worker for the receiver of the bankrupt Wingfield bank chain. Mr. Gorman then moved to the First National Bank of Nevada, where he advanced in his career to the highest office the bank affords—president, and then chairman of the board of directors. He retired from active banking, but not from other work, in 1968.

The oral history contains Harold Gorman's recounting and analysis of his banking career from the point of view of a financial expert devoted to the idea of orderly expansion of both his community and the institution. Under Gorman's direction, First National Bank developed numerous new branch banks and installed innovative new programs. Because he knew intimately both the state and the important members of the banking profession, Mr. Gorman's oral history contains some vital insights into the manner in which banking has historically been conducted here.

In addition to the banking career which spanned some of the most important years in Nevada's economic history, Mr. Gorman acquired other interests which had an impact on the area. His awards and civic offices reflect that of trustee of Washoe Medical Center, president of the Reno Chamber of Commerce, president of the Reno Rotary Club, a recipient of the Silver Beaver award of the Boy Scouts of America, member of vital committees of the Masonic lodge including the Knights Templar Eye Foundation, and many others. Mr. Gorman's energy for community work has resulted in many positive achievements for these organizations.