Walker, Maggie Lena

Impact on the world

Founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903, the first and only American bank run entirely by Black women, an institution that, after later mergers, became the oldest continuously operating Black-owned bank in the U.S. until 2009.

Life & background

Born to a formerly enslaved mother, Walker trained as a teacher before becoming deeply involved in the Independent Order of St. Luke, a Black fraternal and mutual-aid society. Recognizing that white-owned banks would not serve Black organizations, she founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903 in Richmond, Virginia, the first bank chartered and led by a Black woman, alongside establishing a Black-owned department store and a community newspaper. She led the bank until her death in 1934; after later mergers it became the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company, the oldest continuously operating Black-owned bank in the country until 2009.

Sources

1. Library of Congress (This Month in Business History); Synchrony (What is Black Wall Street)