Full Name: Maggie Lena Mitchell Walker

Birth Date & Place: July 15, 1867 in Richmond, Virginia

Schooling: Richmond Public Schools

Lived: 110 ½ East Leigh St., Richmond, Va.

Death: December 15, 1934 at the age of 67

1876-1878: Helped mother collect and deliver laundry to white customers. Observed disparate economic opportunities for blacks and whites.

1881-1883: Joined Independent Order of St. Luke. Organized first response in U.S. to inequality of white and black graduation ceremonies. Taught elementary school. Studied accounting at night.

1884-1899: Moved through the ranks of the Independent Order of St. Luke, attaining its highest rank, Right Worthy Grand Secretary.

1902-1903: Established a newspaper, St. Luke Herald and chartered St. Luke Penny Savings Bank.

Daughter of a former slave and a butler.

First African-American woman bank president in the United States.

Her bank merged with two other banks and exists today as Consolidated Bank & Trust Company.

Her house at 110 ½ East Leigh St. in Richmond was designated a National Historic site in 1978, and is open for tours.

"I was not born with a silver spoon [in] my mouth, but instead, with a clothes basket almost upon my head."

"We need a savings bank, chartered, offered, and run by the men and women of this Order…Let us have a bank that will take nickels and turn them into dollars."

"If our women want to avoid the traps and snares of life, they must band themselves together, organize, acknowledge leadership…and work in business for themselves."

http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/educator_resources/maggie_walker/

http://www.nps.gov/malw/home.htm