Maggie Lena Walker was born on July
15th 1867 in Richmond, Virginia. Her mother was a former slave and
assistant cook in a mansion and her father was a butler and a writer.
After the death of her father, she says murder the law says suicide,
she and her mother moved. Her mother started a laundry business to
support themselves. It is said that during this time she saw the huge
difference between how Blacks and Whites were treated. Later in her
life she taught grade school for a few years but was forced to leave
after marrying. It was illegal for teachers to be married at the
school. Don't ask me.
In 1895 she began working with the Order of St.
Luke's and quickly became their grand secretary. When she started
they were on the verge of bankruptcy and a few years later she made a
speech detailing what she had planned to save them and it worked. In
1902 she started the St . Luke Herald newspaper to spread news of what they
were doing. In 1903 she opened the St. Luke Penny Saving Bank making
her not just the first Black woman to open and run a bank, but the
first woman period in the US. Two years later she opened St. Luke
Emporium that gave Black women the chance to work and gave Black
communities the chance to buy cheaper products.
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