Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site

A Black Female Entrepeneur

Maggie L. Walker was already famous as a dynamic leader in Richmond’s black community when she and her family moved to 110 ½ East Leigh Street in 1904. She had devoted more than 20 years to the Independent Order of St. Luke and had founded a newspaper and chartered a bank. But to Walker, community service and professional success were only part of what constituted a full life. She knew that success sprang not only from thriftiness and hard work, but also from a commitment to her God and her family.

Maggie Mitchell joined the First African Baptist church at age 11, and she was inspired by the members who prayed and worked together to uplift their community. Throughout her life she studied the Bible, participated in church activities, and quoted scripture in her writings and speeches.

Her stepfather died when she was nine years old, thrusting the family further into poverty. She worked hard helping her mother, who supported them by taking in laundry. The poverty and daily struggle taught her self-sufficiency and how to deal with tragedy.

Despite the hardship, Maggie Mitchell graduated from Richmond Colored Normal School at 16 and taught elementary school for three years. In 1886 she married Armstead Walker Jr. Retired from teaching (it was illegal at that time for married women to teach), she directed her energies toward strengthening the Independent Order of St. Luke and caring for her growing family. In time, Walker’s boundless devotion to her work and family rewarded them with financial and social success.

Tragedy struck in 1915 when Armstead was accidentally killed, leaving Mrs. Walker to manage a large household. Her investments and hard work kept the family together. The family expanded again when her sons Russell and Melvin married and brought their wives to live at home, which later included four grandchildren. As the family grew, the house grew too – finally to a 28-room complex that all but covered the 33 by 139 feet lot. In 1928 paralysis confined Mrs. Walker to a wheelchair. Undaunted, she added an elevator to the house and altered her car and desks to accommodate the wheelchair.

St. Luke Penny Savings Bank Turning nickels into dollars

In 1901 Maggie Lena Walker boldly presented her community with an idea for economic empowerment: "We need a savings bank, chartered, officered, and run by the men and women of this order…. Let us have a bank that will take the nickels and turn them into dollars." In 1903 St. Luke Penny Savings Bank opened its doors – the first chartered bank in the United States founded by a black woman. Today it thrives as the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company, the oldest continually operated African American bank in the United States.

The St. Luke Penny Savings Bank moved to First and Marshall in 1911. The new building, designed by black architect Charles T. Russell, featured multi-colored bricks, carved stonework, and arched windows. It no longer stands.

Maggie Mitchell was 14 when she joined the local Independent Order of St. Luke. Founded in 1867, this benevolent society aided African Americans in times of illness, old age, and death. In 1899 she was elected Right Worth Grand Secretary of the national Independent Order of St. Luke and transformed the struggling order into a successful financial organization with her sound fiscal policies and genius for public relations.

NAACP

All her life Maggie L. Walker spoke out for equal rights and fair employment, especially for women. She worked alongside Mary McLeod Bethune and W.E.B. Du Bois and served on the boards of local and national civic organizations, including the National Association of Colored Women and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Despite humble beginnings and personal tragedies, Mrs. Walker achieved national prominence and respect for her business and humanitarian accomplishments.

Maggie L Walker Timeline

1867-1869

Born July 15, 1867, in Richmond, Va., to Elizabeth Draper, a former slave and servant in Elizabeth Van Lew’s home, and Eccles Cuthbert, a white abolitionist writer; Draper marries William Mitchell, Miss Van Lew’s butler.

1876-1878

Helps mother by collecting and delivering laundry to white customers and observes disparate economic opportunities for blacks and whites; attends school; is baptized in First African Baptist Church; stepfather Mitchell dies.

1881-1883

Joins Independent Order of St. Luke (I. O. of St. Luke); protests inequality of white and black graduation ceremonies by organizing black student school strike, the first such response in the U.S. to unequal treatment; teaches elementary school; studies accounting at night.

1886-1888

Marries Armstead Walker Jr, a brick contractor; quits teaching; continues activities with I. O. of St. Luke.

1890-1894

Son Russell Eccles Talmage born 1890; son Armstead Mitchell born 1893 (dies at seven months).

1895-1897

Establishes juvenile branch of I. O. of St. Luke; becomes Grand Deputy Matron of the branch; son Melvin DeWitt born 1897.

1899

Elected Right Worthy Grand Secretary of St. Luke, its highest rank, (later becomes Secretary-Treasurer) retains position until 1934.

1901-1905

Establishes newspaper, St. Luke Herald, 1902; charters St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, 1903, is president until 1931; moves to 110 ½ East Leigh Street; establishes the St. Luke Emporium, a retail store.

1915

Husband Armstead accidentally killed.

1921

Runs unsuccessfully with John Mitchell on "Lily Black" ticket: he for Virginia’s governor, she for superintendent of public instruction.

1923-1927

Receives honorary Masters degree from Virginia Union University; son Russell dies.

1928

Confined to wheelchair by paralysis.

1934

Dies in Richmond on December 15 of diabetic gangrene; is buried at Evergreen Cemetery.