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.
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.
I GOTTA THROW UP THE BULLSHIT FLAG
IS SO FUCKING LAME. HAMPTON GETS SOME WHAT OF A PASS, AND THATS ONLY CAUSE HAMPTON UNIVERSITY. ALL THE FINE WOMEN THAT HAVE BEEN BUSSED IN FROM OTHER NEARBY STATES. NORTHERN VA IS "ALRIGHT"
AND MOST OF THE SOME WHAT DECENT WOMEN ARE FROM OUTTA TOWN( MILITARY/COLLEGE ), CLOTHING
.
AND I NEVER EVEN SAID ANYTHING ABOUT PHILLY. IT SEEMS LIKE I HIT A NERVE. I GUESS THE TRUTH DOES HURT
...but when you take the history into account it "makes sense"...