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Decolonize Black History Month

Handheld fan promoting the I.O. St. Luke

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Day 07: Maggie Lena Walker St. Luke Penny Savings Bank opened on November 2, 1903 in Richmond, Virginia. It was the first bank in the United States to be chartered by a woman. On opening day it held $9000 in deposits and in just three years had increased that amount to $170,000. This bank, along with a subsequent branch in Hampton, Viriginia, helped hundreds of Black families buy homes. During the Great Depression, St. Luke Penny Savings Bank merged with two other Black-owned institutions (the Commercial bank and Trust Company and the Second Street Savings Bank) to form the Consolidated Bank and Trust. This new company existed until 2011. The woman who first opened St. Luke Bank was named Maggie Lena Walker.

Walker was born July 15, 1864 in Richmond Virginia. Herself a graduate of Richmond Public Schools, she worked as a teacher for a few years before getting more involved in community activism. As a member of the Independent Order of St. Luke (IOSL), she assisted with the group’s mission to facilitate financial and social support between members. For example the IOSL had a system for disability and life insurance. Walker held many leadership positions within the order such as Right Worthy Grand Secretary, editor-in-chief of the St. Luke Herald, and co-founder of the order’s Juvenile Department.

In addition to her membership in the IOSL, she also participated in the local chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Association of Colored Women, National Association of Wage Earners, National Negro Business League, and many others. Walker even ran for Superintendent of Virginia’s public schools in 1921. While she lost the election she did earn 20,000 votes. In addition to her support of children, Walker worked to help other Black women to empower themselves both socially and financially. She employed women whenever she could and helped fund the startup capital for the Janie Porter Barrett’s Industrial Home School for Girls.

Today Walker’s home is a museum and National Historic Site. There is a magnet school in Richmond called Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies (formerly Maggie L. Walker High School) and her office in the St. Luke Building has been preserved since she died in 1934. That office is also on the National Register of Historic Places.