Walker, Maggie (1867–1934)

US businesswoman and African-American activist. In 1903 she founded the St Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Virginia, becoming the first woman president of a bank in the USA; it gradually absorbed other African-American banks and became a major bank in 1929. She was also active in several other organizations and programmes dedicated to improving economic and social conditions for African-Americans.

Walker was born in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of a former slave and a white father. She was educated at a school for African-Americans and taught until she married in 1886. In 1899 she became executive secretary treasurer of the Independent Order at St Luke, an African-American fraternal and insurance cooperative, which, almost singlehandedly, she turned into a prosperous nationwide organization.

An accident in 1907 eventually left her unable to walk, but she continued her many activities.