Maggie Lena Walker was born in Richmond, Virginia on July 16th, 1864 during the Civil War. She got her start in finance in 1902 when she started a community insurance company for women.
In 1902 Walker also charted the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank becoming the first Black woman to charter a bank. This bank would become one of the longest continually Black-operated banks in the United States.
Walker worked to use her bank as a vessel to empower Black women and the emerging Black middle class in Richmond, Virginia at the time. This was groundbreaking as Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy just decades before her work began.
Walker also was interested in media. She started a newspaper called The St. Luke Herald in 1902, using it as a publication to inform people of civil rights abuses along with civil rights editorials.
As a Black woman during this time, Maggie Lena Walker faced discrimination from every angle. Stil, she found a way to achieve greatness for her Black people. Black people have always worked to revolutionize the finance industry and Walker is an ancestor to study for years to come.