Maggie Lena Walker was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1867 to parents who were former slaves. Mrs. Walker graduated at the very top of her class in 1883. She then taught grade school for three years at the Lancaster School, at the same time she took classes in accounting and business. Mrs. Walker became an important community organizer and started a newspaper for the St. Luke organization in 1902 called the St. Luke Herald. After the success of the newspaper she started the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank and became the first woman in the United States to charter a bank. She was also the bank's first president. During the Great Depression two other banks in Richmond merged with St. Luke to become The Consolidated Bank and Trust Company which continues to be the oldest black-owned and black-run bank in the
United States.
On a cold day in December 1969, nine African American men left their fo
