MAGGIE LENA WALKER - BANKER, HUMANITARIAN

Maggie Lena Walker was the first African American woman in the U.S. to found a bank. Walker was born in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of a former slave. Walker spent her life working for civil rights and other humanitarian causes, including co-founding the NAACP’s Richmond branch.

Walker graduated in 1883 and worked as a teacher until she married Armstead Walker, Jr., a brick contractor, in 1886. After leaving her teaching job, Walker became active in the Independent Order of St. Luke (IOSL), an organization dedicated to the social and financial advancement of African Americans. In 1899, Walker became the organization’s grand secretary and held that position throughout her life. During her tenure, she founded a newspaper and opened a highly successful bank and department store. Walker opened the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903 and remained its president until 1929. She not only managed to keep her bank alive during the Great Depression but merged with two other banks to form the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company. The bank prospered as the oldest continually African American-operated bank in the United States until 2009.

Through her leadership of the IOSL and the St. Luke Bank president, Walker became one of the most influential women in the banking industry. When many black women faced employment challenges and low wages, she proved that black women could play an essential role in the business world.

Maggie Walker died in 1934 at the age of 70. Her home on East Leigh Street in Richmond was purchased in 1979 by the National Park Service and became a National Historic Site.

For more information on Maggie Leana Walker, visit these sites:

https://www.nps.gov/mawa/learn/historyculture/maggie-lena-walker.htm

Video: Carry On: The Life and Legacy of Maggie Lena Walker

https://www.biography.com/scholar/maggie-lena-walker