Exploring Richmond: Maggie Walker

A Richmonder, Maggie Walker was the first African American woman to charter a bank and the first African American woman to serve as a bank president in the United States.

She gained prominence in 1903 when she founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, becoming its first president. While most of her clientele were adults, she encouraged children to open bank accounts, giving out branded piggy banks to promote saving money. 

The St. Luke Penny Savings Bank merged with two other local banks to become The Consolidated Bank and Trust Company, of which Walker served as chairman of the board of directors. The Consolidated Bank stood as a stark representation of black entrepreneurship in the segregated South, and until 2009 it was the oldest continually African American-operated bank in the U.S. 

While she has a lot of name cred for her banking career, Walker did a lot to serve her community as well. She led a boycott against the city’s segregated street cars; she opened the St. Luke’s Emporium department store to counter white-owned businesses that refused to let black patrons try on clothes; she helped to found the Richmond NAACP chapter; and she started the first black Girl Scout troop in the South.

Walker received an honorary master's degree from Virginia Union University in 1925, and was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2001. A statue of Walker was unveiled in 2017 in her Jackson Ward neighborhood in Richmond at the plaza at Broad and Adams Streets.

We love getting to know our city’s history and historic figures better. Meanwhile, if you’re a Richmond homeowner in need of help with your roof, siding, windows, or gutters, give us a call at 804-258-6300. We’d love to provide you with a no-pressure free estimate.