Maggie Lena Walker Memorial

Born in 1864 to Elizabeth Draper, Maggie Lena Walker later worked with her mother as a laundress to help make ends meet. After graduating from Richmond Colored Normal School in 1883, she taught for three years before marrying Armstead Walker, Jr. In 1899, as Right Worthy Grand Secretary of the Independent Order of St. Luke, she advanced a vision for banking, newspaper, and retail enterprises. In 1903, she chartered the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank and became the nation’s first African American female bank president. In 1904, through the St. Luke Herald, she helped drive a two-year boycott of Richmond’s segregated streetcars, and in 1905 she operated the St. Luke Emporium, which provided retail, employment, and training opportunities for Richmond’s black women. In 1921, she campaigned for Virginia’s Superintendent of Public Instruction on an all-black political ticket. By 1925, she had transformed the Independent Order of St. Luke from a struggling burial society into a thriving insurance company in more than 20 states with 100,000 members. During the 1920s and 1930s, she was an influential leader in the NAACP, the National Association of Colored Women, the Urban League, and the National Negro Business League. She died at her home on December 15, 1934, leaving a legacy of service, activism, and empowerment.

Richmond, Virginia · United States