Maggie L. Walker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maggie Lena Walker (July 15, 1867-December 15, 1934) was an American teacher, businesswoman, and banker. She was the first woman to charter a bank in the United States. As a leader her successes and vision offered tangible improvements in the way of life for African Americans and women. Disabled by paralysis and limited to a wheelchair later in life, she also became an example for persons with disabilities. Her restored and furnished home in the historic Jackson Ward neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia is a National Historic Site operated by the National Park Service.
Contents |
[edit] Childhood, education
 |
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can (March 2008). |
 |
This article or section appears to have been copied and pasted from a source, possibly in violation of a copyright. Please edit this article to remove any copyrighted text and to be an original source, following the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. Remove this template after editing. |
She was born as Maggie Lena Mitchell in Richmond, Virginia to Eccles Cuthbert and Elizabeth Draper Mitchell 2 years and 2 months after the end of the American Civil War. Her mother was a former slave and assistant cook in the Church Hill mansion of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Quaker woman who had been a spy in the Confederate capital city of Richmond for the Union during the War, and was later postmistress for Richmond. Her father was an Irish-born newspaperman, correspondent for the New York Herald, and abolitionist. At that time, interracial marriages were illegal in the State of Virginia, so ten months after Maggie's birth her mother married William Mitchell, a mulatto butler in the Van Lew house who could believably pass as Maggie's father.
The Mitchell family moved to their own home nearby Ms. Van Lew's home where Maggie and her brother Johnnie were raised. Only a few years later, Mitchell disappeared and was found a few days later, drowned; it was assumed he'd been robbed and murdered. After the untimely death of William Mitchell, Maggie's mother supported her family by working as a laundress. Young Maggie attended the newly-formed Richmond Public Schools and helped her mother by delivering the clean clothes. When Maggie was eleven years old she was baptized at the First African Church. She became a Sunday school teacher. Maggie attended the Lancaster School and then the Armstrong Normal School. She received her diploma in 1883 with honors. After graduation, she became a teacher at her alma mater, Lancaster School, and taught there for three years, while studying accounting at night school.
[edit] Career
In 1899, the thirty-second annual convention of the Grand United Order of St. Luke was held in Hinton, West Virginia. Walker had worked her way up the ranks of the Order and was elected Right Worthy Grand Secretary-Treasurer at the convention. The Order was renamed the Independent Order of St. Luke. Because the order was in debt, she served in the position at one-third the salary, receiving eight dollars a month. Walker was responsible for implementing successful programs for the Order, causing it to progress. She traveled to organize councils and encourage new people to join. Her speaking ability became her trademark. As a result of her business acumen, the Order became financially successful. The business consisted of an insurance component, a printing press, a newspaper and an Educational Loan Fund for college students. She also organized the Juvenile Branch of the Order. When speaking at Juvenile Society meetings, Walker would encourage the youth to save money. A special day was set aside called Sunshine Day on which the youth sent out a ray of sunshine by visiting the sick or taking food to a needy family. She established an Order newsletter called the "St. Luke Herald," which devoted a section to children, where their articles, stories, and poems were featured. By 1922, the death claims of the insurance department were nearly $1 million. By 1924, the Order had 50,000 members, 1500 local chapters and assets of almost $400,000.
Walker dreamed of founding a bank owned and operated by African Americans. She believed that people could turn "nickels into dollars" by pooling their money and lending it out. She said, "let us put our money together; let us use our money; Let us put our money out at usury among ourselves, and reap the benefit ourselves." She realized her dream when the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank opened on November 2, 1903 with Walker as president. Maggie Lena Walker became the first woman bank founder and president in the United States. On the opening day, the receipts totaled $9,430.44. Many people opened Christmas savings accounts in which they deposited a penny or a nickel a week. In 1911, St. Luke Penny Savings Bank had to sever its ties with St. Luke Order because a law was passed in Virginia that required all banks to separate from fraternal organizations. The St. Luke Penny Savings Bank prospered. The bank had helped purchase 600 homes by 1920. In 1930, the Bank merged with two other black-owned banks in Richmond and became the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company. Walker became the chairman of the board.
The St. Luke Penny Savings Bank still exists today as the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company, the oldest continuously operating minority-owned bank in the United States. The bank has assets of over $116 million. According to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Bank and Trust, Vernard W. Henley, " I think what she (Maggie Walker) had in mind was that African Americans ought to help themselves, and they ought to provide the opportunities for employment and development." Walker's philosophy is still upheld by the Bank she founded.
As segregation in the South increased, many African American leaders emphasized entrepreneurship, "buy Black" campaigns, and the employment of African Americans as a primary avenue for community advancement. Walker agreed to that agenda and added a powerful plea for the creation of employment for African American women other than in domestic service.
Walker was a charismatic speaker whose favorite topics were race pride and unity, women's problems and potential, African American business, and oppression. As her importance grew, she became more and more active in civic affairs. She was the founder and lifelong head of the Colored Women's Council of Richmond, which raised money for local projects and maintained a community house. In 1921, she ran as a Republican for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
[edit] Home Life
On September 14, 1886, Maggie married Armstead Walker, a building contractor. They had three sons, one of which died in infancy. Walker had graduated from Richmond's Armstrong Normal School in 1883
Walker's house at 110-1/2 East Leigh Street in Richmond was built in 1883. She bought the house in 1904 and adding central heating and electricity. The original home consisted of 9 rooms and after Walker's renovations, expanded to 25 rooms. Maggie's mother lived with her in her elegant home until her death on February 12, 1922. Maggie's son, Russell, never recovered from the accidental shooting of his father and after long bouts of depression and excessive drinking, he died on November 23, 1923.
In 1915, Walker's son, Russell, accidentally shot and killed his father, mistaking him for an intruder. Although he was found not guilty, members of the St. Luke Order disliked the negative publicity the incident caused and asked for Walker's resignation. Walker addressed the members of the organization in a fiery speech, in which she recalled her dedication and hard work for the Order and the successes that were the result of her efforts. The members were moved by the dramatic, heart-wrenching speech and gave her a standing ovation. Walker remained grand secretary of the Order for many years thereafter.
[edit] Infirmity and Death
Mrs. Walker's health gradually declined, and by 1928 she was using a wheelchair due to paralysis. Despite her physical limitations, she remained actively committed to her life's work including serving as leader of the Independent Order of St. Luke and chairman of the bank until her death on December 15,1934. According to tradition, her last message was "Have hope, have faith, have courage, and carry on." She is buried in Richmond's Evergreen Cemetery.
[edit] Philanthropy and Legacy
Walker became a relatively wealthy woman and a philanthropist. In addition to operating a bank, Walker was cofounder and president of the Richmond Council of Colored Women, which supported the Janie Porter Barrett Virginian Industrial School for Colored Girls, as well as other charities. She was a member of the National Urban League, the Virginia Interracial Committee, the National Association of Wage Earners, the International Council of Women of the Darker Races and cofounder and vice president of the Richmond branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She served many years on the executive committee of the National Association of Colored Women, whose projects included restoring and opening the Frederick Douglass Home to the public. She was on the board of two schools for girls--one in Richmond and one in Washington--and served as a trustee of Hartshorn College and Virginia Union University. She was an active contributor to the work of her beloved First African Baptist Church, and supported the Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls. Walker's house.
Ms. Walker received an honorary Masters degree from Virginia Union University in 1923, and was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2002
In Maggie's honor, Richmond Public Schools built a large brick high school adjacent to Virginia Union University. Maggie L. Walker High School was one of two schools in the area for black students during the Period of racial segregation in schools. The other was Armstrong High School. After generations of students spent their high school years there, it was totally refurbished in the late 20th century to become the regional Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies. It was named among Newsweek's 17 top schools in the nation for its students SAT scores.
The National Park Service operates the Maggie L. Walker Historical Site at the former Jackson Ward home.In 1978 the house was designated a National Historic Site 1978 and was opened as a museum in 1985. The site states that it "commemorates the life of a progressive and talented African American woman. She achieved success in the world of business and finance as the first woman in the United States to charter and serve as presisdent of the bank, despite the many aversities. The site includes a visitor center detailing her life andthe Jackson Ward community in which she lived and worked and her resisdance of thirty years.The house is restored to its 1930's appearance with original Walker family pieces.
