Maggie Lena Walker lived her life in Richmond, Virginia. She was born in 1864. She joined the local council of the Independent Order of St. Luke when she was 14. It was a fraternal burial society that helped those who were ill and the elderly. She took on more and more responsibility with the Order and became Right Worthy Grand Secretary in 1899, a position she held until her death in 1934.
From 1883 until 1886, she taught grade school. She resigned her position when she married Armstead Walker Jr., a brick contractor. They had two sons.
Walker became the publisher of The St. Luke Herald in 1902. Shortly thereafter, she became the first African American woman to charter a United States bank when she opened the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank. Several women were on the bank’s board. Walker became chairman of the board of directors of Consolidated Bank and Trust Company when her bank merged with two other Richmond banks.
In 1904, the Walkers bought a home at 1101⁄2 East Leigh Street in the Jackson Ward district of Richmond. Her husband was killed in an accident in 1915. The St. Luke Building contained her office and the offices for the Order of St. Luke.
Virginia Union University awarded Walker an honorary Master’s degree in 1925. A high school next to the University campus was named the Maggie L. Walker High School. In 2001, it became a regional school, Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies.
Walker was an Honorary member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Today the Maggie L. Walker Historic Site is run by the National Park Service. The visitor’s center tells the story of her life and the Jackson Ward community. Later in her life, she was confined to a wheelchair and she had an elevator installed in her home. There is a virtual tour of the house.
In 2000, Walker was among the first group honored as Viriginia Women in History. A year later she was inducted into the Junior Achivement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.
A 10-foot bronze statue of Walker was unveiled on July 15, 2017. Designed by Antonio Tobias Mendez, it depicts a 45-year-old Walker holding a checkbook with her glasses pinned to her lapel. It is located at the gateway to the Jackson Ward.
The sorority established a partnership with the National Park Service. It was formalized with signing ceremony at the National Museum of African American History and Culture on January 16, 2020, the day Zeta Phi Beta turned 100.
