[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 45 (Friday, March 30, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E505]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MAGGIE LENA WALKER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROBERT C. SCOTT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 30, 2001

  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, in celebration of Women's History Month, I 
rise to honor the contributions of a distinguished woman. I would like 
to share with the House the remarkable life of Maggie Lena Walker, a 
Richmond, Virginia native and a business and community leader in the 
early part of the 20th Century. Maggie Walker is well known for her 
efforts on behalf of the African American community in Richmond and in 
the development and success of Richmond's historic Jackson Ward 
community, among the oldest African American communities in the 
country.
  Maggie Walker was born on July 15, 1867. She spent her childhood at 
the Van Lew Mansion in Richmond, Virginia, where her mother, a former 
slave, worked as a cook's helper. As an abolitionist, Miss Van Lew made 
sure that all of her servants received a good education. It was here 
that Maggie Walker began to learn the value and importance of 
education.
  Like many educated African American women during that time, Maggie 
Walker's first contribution was in the field of education where she 
taught in the public school system after her graduation from Armstrong 
Normal School in Richmond. She was required to leave the teaching 
profession after her marriage and soon recognized the limited 
availability of job opportunities for African American women. Further, 
it was Walker's belief that African American women had an instrumental 
part to play in the economic and political success of the African 
American community. This belief was manifested in Walker's founding of 
the Woman's Union, an insurance company, and the Saint Luke Penny 
Savings Bank, where in 1903 she was the first woman bank president in 
the United States.
  The Saint Luke Penny Savings Bank, as its name suggests, was 
established as an institution whose interest was the small investors, 
literally the pennies of the African American washerwomen--ultimately 
proving that even with pennies, the African American community had 
economic power. Maggie Walker's Saint Luke Penny Savings Bank merged 
with two other banks to become Consolidated Bank and Trust, the oldest 
existing African American owned and operated bank in the U.S., with 
several branches today in Richmond and Hampton, Virginia.
  This Saint Luke Emporium, a department store located in the Jackson 
Ward section of Richmond, was started by Walker and is yet another 
example of her promotion of African American economic empowerment. It 
employed scores of African American women and provided the African 
American community the opportunity to purchase goods from its own 
businesses. The Jackson Ward community in Richmond benefited greatly 
from Walker's influence and keen sense of business acumen; today, the 
Jackson Ward is known historically as the center of Richmond's African 
American business and social life.
  Maggie Walker's leadership was not confined to the business 
community. She set the groundwork for the local women's suffrage 
movement and voter registration efforts after the passage of the 19th 
Amendment. The evidence of her success is in the fact that close to 80 
percent of eligible black voters in Richmond in the 1920s were women. 
Maggie Walker boldly challenged the political establishment in 1921 
when she ran for State Superintendent of Public Instruction on the 
``Lily Black'' Republican ticket. Although her campaign for public 
office was unsuccessful, it confirmed African American women's 
important role in the political arena and it also further invigorated 
the interest of the African American community in the political 
process.
  On April 26, 2001, the Junior Achievement National Hall of Fame will 
recognize Maggie Walker's accomplishments as the country's first 
African American female bank president. The mission of Junior 
Achievement is to ensure that every child in America has a fundamental 
understanding of the free enterprise system. Ms. Walker is a prime 
example in making that goal a reality. During her days at the St. Luke 
Penny Savings Bank, the bank provided small cardboard boxes to children 
to encourage them to save their pennies. When the children had one 
dollar saved, they could open a savings account with the bank. This 
tradition continues today at the Consolidated Bank & Trust Company. 
Maggie Walker's work as a political leader and business entrepreneur is 
a reminder to us all that the success of the African American community 
depends on both economic and political development.

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