Maggie Lena Walker, Photograph Portrait, ca. 1930

Maggie Lena Mitchell Walker was an entrepreneur, a banker, and a community leader. In 1903, she was the first African American woman to establish a bank in the United States, the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, in Richmond. She was also the first African American woman to be the president of a bank in the United States.

Maggie Walker was born in 1864 in Richmond, and was the daughter of a formerly enslaved woman and a white journalist who had fought for the Confederacy. Her mother later married William Mitchell, who died in 1876. After his death, the family fell into poverty and Maggie Walker's mother started a laundry business to support them. In 1904, Maggie Walker described how she felt about working in her mother’s business and witnessing the differences between socio-economic classes. She said “I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but with a laundry basket practically on my head.”

She attended segregated schools and graduated from the Richmond Colored Normal School in 1883 after completing the training to become a teacher. Following graduation she taught school for three years. After her marriage to Armstead Walker Jr. in 1886, she had to retire as a result of policies that did not allow married women to teach, a standard practice at the time. 

In 1881, Walker joined the Independent Order of Saint Luke, a fraternal association that provided insurance and burial benefits and later provided members with mortgages and educational loans. She rose through the ranks of the organization and became Right Worthy Grand Secretary in 1899. When she became its leader, the order was debt-ridden and on the verge of bankruptcy, but Walker transformed it to a well-resourced entity, and within five years the Saint Luke Penny Savings Bank opened for business. The Order also established a weekly newspaper, the St. Luke Herald, and opened a department store. She used her position to encourage young Black students to continue their education and serve the community.

During the Great Depression, Walker's bank was survived the national wave of bank failures and merged with two other banks to become Consolidated Bank and Trust, which continued operating into the twenty-first century. In the later years of her life, Walker faced health issues that confined her to a wheelchair. Walker remained president of her bank until December 15, 1934, when she died from diabetic gangrene. Today Maggie Walker's former home at 110 ½ East Leigh Street is a National Historic Landmark (designated in 1979) and is maintained by the National Park Service. 

Citation: Maggie Walker Photographic Potrait, Visual Studies Collection, Library of Virginia.


Learn more about Maggie Walker in the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.

Preview Activities

Artistic Exploration:  Examine the photograph of Maggie Lena Walker as well as the legend at the bottom of the image.  From your perspective, what can you conclude about Walker from her posture, dress, and facial expression?  What also does the message at the bottom of her photograph imply?

Think About it: The year of the photograph was 1930. List 5 things you know about that period in American History. These items may reflect events prior to or after 1930. Think about the role of women and how the Black community in a city like Richmond, might be different from today.

Post Activities

Analyze: Maggie Walker achieved a level of success that was considered to be unusual for an African- American woman of her period. What events stand out to you as being most relevant to who she would become? Why? Write a paragraph explaining your thought process.

Be the Journalist: Imagine you could meet Maggie Walker now and interview her. What would you ask her? Why