Early Years and Family
When William Mitchell left the Van Lew household and became the headwaiter at the prestigious Saint Charles Hotel, the family was able to set out and rent a small house of their own in College Alley near the Medical College of Virginia. In February 1876, William Mitchell's body was found drowned in the James River. While authorities claimed the death was a suicide, Walker's mother insisted that he had been murdered. William Mitchell's death plunged his widow and her two children into poverty. As a way for the family members to provide for themselves, Elizabeth Mitchell began a small laundry business. Walker assisted by returning clean laundry to white patrons, a position that allowed her to observe the economic and social disparity between the races. This part of her childhood left such an impression on Walker that years later, in 1904, she recalled, "I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but with a laundry basket practically on my head."
In 1904 the Walkers purchased their family home at 110 1/2 East Leigh Street, located in Richmond's Jackson Ward neighborhood, which was dubbed—as the hub of Richmond's African American business and cultural life—the "Harlem of the South." The Walkers opened their home to numerous family members including their children and grandchildren. Over time, the home expanded from nine to twenty-eight rooms to accommodate the rapidly growing family.
The Independent Order of Saint Luke
During the latter part of Forrester's tenure and after she was forced to abandon her teaching career when she married, Walker rose through the Independent Order's ranks and used her positions to continue to influence young people. In 1895, as grand deputy matron, she established the Juvenile Branch of the Independent Order of Saint Luke in order to instill a sense of community consciousness and confidence in young African Americans. The branch stressed the importance of education and community service. To underscore her belief that the future success of the order and of society itself came from investing in youth, Walker adopted the maxim: "As the twig is bent, the tree is inclined."
On August 20, 1901, she delivered a now-famous speech before the Independent Order's council in which she declared her vision to take the organization to greater heights by creating a conglomerate: a bank chartered and operated by the order's members, a newspaper to herald the good news of the order, and a department store run by black employees and geared to black consumers with goods they wanted at more affordable prices than those of white retailers. It was through this consolidation of communication, money, and industry that the African American community could become economically independent, mobilized, and self-sustaining. Within five years, Walker guided each of these enterprises to fruition. The St. Luke Herald began operation in 1902, the Saint Luke Penny Savings Bank opened for business in November 1903, and the Saint Luke Emporium was in operation by April 1905.
Challenges and Politics
Amidst these obstacles and setbacks to her business, Walker also faced misfortune and tragedy. In June 1915 Russell Walker shot and killed his father after mistaking him for an intruder. He was arrested for murder and, after five months awaiting trial, was declared innocent. Russell Walker never recovered from the accident, however, and after eight years battling depression and alcoholism, he died on November 23, 1923. Walker developed diabetes and, because of her failing health and a leg wound that never healed, spent the last decade of her life in a wheelchair.
Legacy
Maggie Lena Walker died on December 15, 1934, of diabetic gangrene. Her funeral was held at Richmond's First African Baptist Church (of which she had been a longtime member). Her home at East Leigh Street was purchased by the National Park Service in 1979 and converted into a National Historic Site. The Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies, a college preparatory school partially funded by the state, was established in 1991.
Time Line
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July 15, 1864 - Maggie Lena Walker is born in Richmond to Elizabeth Draper, a former slave and a servant in Elizabeth Van Lew's home, and Eccles Cuthbert, a white abolitionist writer.
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1867 - The United Order of Saint Luke is founded by Mary Prout in Baltimore, Maryland.
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1876–1878 - Maggie Lena Walker helps her mother by collecting and delivering laundry to white customers and observes disparate economic opportunities for blacks and whites; she also attends school and is baptized in the First African Baptist Church.
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February 1876 - Maggie Lena Walker's stepfather, William Mitchell, is found drowned in the James River.
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1881 - Maggie Lena Walker joins the Independent Order of Saint Luke, a black fraternal organization. That same year, she also organizes a black student school strike to protest the inequality of white and black graduation ceremonies.
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September 14, 1886 - Maggie Lena Walker marries Armstead Walker Jr., a brick contractor.
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1890 - Maggie Lena Walker's son Russell Eccles Talmadge is born.
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1893 - Maggie Lena Walker's son Armstead Mitchell is born; he dies seven months later.
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1895 - Maggie Lena Walker establishes a juvenile branch of the Independent Order of Saint Luke; she becomes grand deputy matron of the branch.
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1897 - Maggie Lena Walker's son Melvin DeWitt is born.
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1899 - Maggie Lena Walker is elected right worthy grand secretary of Saint Luke, its highest rank (she later becomes secretary-treasurer), and retains this position until 1934.
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August 20, 1901 - Maggie Lena Walker delivers a speech in which she inaugurates her vision of a conglomerate for the Order of Saint Luke: a newspaper, a bank, and a department store to serve the financial and social interests of the black community.
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1902 - Maggie Lena Walker establishes a newspaper, the St. Luke Herald.
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November 1903 - Maggie Lena Walker charters Saint Luke Penny Savings Bank and serves as president until 1929.
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1904 - Armstead Walker Jr. and Maggie Lena Walker move to 110 1/2 East Leigh Street in Richmond.
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April 1905 - Maggie Lena Walker and other women of the Order of Saint Luke establish the Saint Luke Emporium, a department store owned and run by African Americans for the African American community.
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June 1915 - Maggie Lena Walker's husband, Armstead Walker Jr., is accidentally shot and killed by their son Russell Walker.
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1921 - Maggie Lena Walker runs unsuccessfully with John Mitchell Jr. on the "Lily Black" Republican ticket: he for Virginia's governor, she for superintendent of public instruction.
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February 12, 1922 - Maggie Lena Walker's mother, Elizabeth Mitchell, dies.
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November 23, 1923 - Maggie Lena Walker's son Russell Walker dies after battling depression and alcoholism.
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1927 - Maggie Lena Walker receives an honorary masters degree from Virginia Union University.
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1928 - Maggie Lena Walker is confined to a wheelchair by paralysis.
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December 15, 1934 - Maggie Lena Walker dies in Richmond of diabetic gangrene; she is buried at Evergreen Cemetery.
References
Further Reading
External Links
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Branch, M. M. Maggie Lena Walker (1864–1934). (2020, January 20). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Maggie_Lena_Walker_1864-1934.
- MLA Citation:
Branch, Muriel Miller. "Maggie Lena Walker (1864–1934)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 20 Jan. 2020. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: April 12, 2010 | Last modified: January 20, 2020
Contributed by Muriel Miller Branch, an author and educator. She is the coauthor of two children's books on Maggie Walker, the former president of the Maggie L. Walker Historical Foundation, and has represented the Maggie Walker National Historic Site on the Mid-Atlantic Council of the National Park Service.