Inside the Home of a Civil Rights Trailblazer
Business leader Maggie L. Walker championed national change from an inspiring home base in Virginia
Maggie Lena Walker came of age in the post-Civil War South, in Richmond, Virginia. The daughter of a former slave, she dedicated her life to the uplift of fellow African-American men and women through education, economic empowerment, and community and civil rights organizations.
Walker’s grand home, decorated in Gilded Age splendor, reflects her lifelong strategy to lead and inspire by example. It shows that with relentless hard work and unyielding determination, so much is possible. “This is someone who fought the system,” says Ethan Bullard, curator of the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site. “It was a system created to oppress. And she devoted her life to upending that.”
Walker’s grand home, decorated in Gilded Age splendor, reflects her lifelong strategy to lead and inspire by example. It shows that with relentless hard work and unyielding determination, so much is possible. “This is someone who fought the system,” says Ethan Bullard, curator of the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site. “It was a system created to oppress. And she devoted her life to upending that.”
Studio portrait of Maggie L. Walker circa 1905
Having established herself as a successful businesswoman and committed civic leader, “Walker was already legendary in the African-American community, locally and nationally, by 1904, when she purchased this house,” Bullard says.
Walker’s rise to prominence began in 1899, when she took charge of the Independent Order of St. Luke, a fraternal society she had joined as a teen. From its creation, the organization had provided for the needs of African-Americans — everything from functioning as a social outlet to helping pay for burials. Walker revived the order and expanded its mission to also help African-Americans gain economic independence. The order was a springboard for her future activism.
A Vision for Economic Independence
She founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903, making her the first African-American woman to charter and serve as a bank president. This allowed black Americans to patronize a bank in their own community, away from the discriminatory practices they often faced at white-owned banks, including higher interest rates or outright refusal to conduct business.
In 1905, she opened the St. Luke Emporium, an all-black department store that allowed African-Americans in Richmond to shop freely, without discrimination. The St. Luke Herald, first a weekly and then a monthly publication that Walker began publishing in 1902, communicated dealings of the Independent Order of St. Luke as well as local and national civil rights news.
In this era between emancipation and the modern civil rights movement, Walker saw her ability to make a difference through economic empowerment. “Black business is what she recognized as the way to fight Jim Crow,” Bullard says, referring to the laws enacted in the southern U.S. that enforced racial segregation. She saw black-owned businesses as a way to provide African-Americans — particularly women — with direct opportunity and as a way to build a successful community. “That’s a way of really of empowering and creating a black middle class,” Bullard says, and it was a far cry from the menial jobs that black men and women, especially, were offered at the time.
Having established herself as a successful businesswoman and committed civic leader, “Walker was already legendary in the African-American community, locally and nationally, by 1904, when she purchased this house,” Bullard says.
Walker’s rise to prominence began in 1899, when she took charge of the Independent Order of St. Luke, a fraternal society she had joined as a teen. From its creation, the organization had provided for the needs of African-Americans — everything from functioning as a social outlet to helping pay for burials. Walker revived the order and expanded its mission to also help African-Americans gain economic independence. The order was a springboard for her future activism.
A Vision for Economic Independence
She founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903, making her the first African-American woman to charter and serve as a bank president. This allowed black Americans to patronize a bank in their own community, away from the discriminatory practices they often faced at white-owned banks, including higher interest rates or outright refusal to conduct business.
In 1905, she opened the St. Luke Emporium, an all-black department store that allowed African-Americans in Richmond to shop freely, without discrimination. The St. Luke Herald, first a weekly and then a monthly publication that Walker began publishing in 1902, communicated dealings of the Independent Order of St. Luke as well as local and national civil rights news.
In this era between emancipation and the modern civil rights movement, Walker saw her ability to make a difference through economic empowerment. “Black business is what she recognized as the way to fight Jim Crow,” Bullard says, referring to the laws enacted in the southern U.S. that enforced racial segregation. She saw black-owned businesses as a way to provide African-Americans — particularly women — with direct opportunity and as a way to build a successful community. “That’s a way of really of empowering and creating a black middle class,” Bullard says, and it was a far cry from the menial jobs that black men and women, especially, were offered at the time.
The House: A Showcase and Hub of Activity
And it is in the house on East Leigh Street that for three decades Walker lived with her family, collaborated with friends and civil rights leaders, and oversaw her business and community work.
The home was built in 1883 by George Boyd, a prominent African-American builder in Richmond, as a five-room Italianate-style row house. Two homeowners lived there before Walker, both doctors, with Robert E. Jones, the second homeowner, making the home’s first renovations. He added more bedrooms and a larger indoor kitchen, and he expanded the home’s west side to accommodate his medical practice.
Walker commissioned significant renovations for the house, which took about a year to complete. Those updates included adding electricity, central heat and expanded plumbing. She modernized it and redecorated it with Gilded Age splendor, Bullard says, both for comfort and as a symbol to everyone in Jackson Ward that, even in those times, it was possible to move up.
And it is in the house on East Leigh Street that for three decades Walker lived with her family, collaborated with friends and civil rights leaders, and oversaw her business and community work.
The home was built in 1883 by George Boyd, a prominent African-American builder in Richmond, as a five-room Italianate-style row house. Two homeowners lived there before Walker, both doctors, with Robert E. Jones, the second homeowner, making the home’s first renovations. He added more bedrooms and a larger indoor kitchen, and he expanded the home’s west side to accommodate his medical practice.
Walker commissioned significant renovations for the house, which took about a year to complete. Those updates included adding electricity, central heat and expanded plumbing. She modernized it and redecorated it with Gilded Age splendor, Bullard says, both for comfort and as a symbol to everyone in Jackson Ward that, even in those times, it was possible to move up.
The library. The library sits off the main hall and looks as it did in Walker’s time. It had been used as a medical exam room by the previous owner, and Walker converted it to a reading room and home office. Glass-front cabinets house 600 volumes, diplomas from the Walker family hang on the walls, and photographs of significant African-American figures and Walker’s colleagues decorate the room. “Walker’s library is more than just a reading room. It doubles as a showcase of her family’s status as cultured, educated and successful,” Bullard says.
“It’s important to contrast education with Maggie Walker’s mother’s generation,” he says. While her mother had never learned to read or write, Walker grew up in the first generation after slavery, when African-Americans were offered the opportunity to learn in a public school system. “This was something denied during her mother’s generation.”
Walker graduated from high school, after which she taught middle school before pursuing community leadership. “Even as she was renowned for being a businesswoman, she recognized the value and the promise of education,” he says.
She was a lifelong educational advocate, and she would later sit on boards of directors for schools, sponsor education opportunities for African-American youth and African-American women, and even run for office as Virginia’s superintendent of public instruction.
“It’s important to contrast education with Maggie Walker’s mother’s generation,” he says. While her mother had never learned to read or write, Walker grew up in the first generation after slavery, when African-Americans were offered the opportunity to learn in a public school system. “This was something denied during her mother’s generation.”
Walker graduated from high school, after which she taught middle school before pursuing community leadership. “Even as she was renowned for being a businesswoman, she recognized the value and the promise of education,” he says.
She was a lifelong educational advocate, and she would later sit on boards of directors for schools, sponsor education opportunities for African-American youth and African-American women, and even run for office as Virginia’s superintendent of public instruction.
Double parlor. Visitors to the home were received in the double parlor, another room designed to showcase the transformational life Walker experienced and worked to bring to others. “This is quite a contrast from the typical narrative you would expect for a young black woman having grown up impoverished,” Bullard says. With the opulent chandelier, fluted columns and fine furnishings, there was no doubt that a successful upper-middle-class family lived here.
Walker, bottom row on the left, with other Richmond community leaders in front of her home in May 1922
Walker hosted many distinguished names from the national African-American community, including Nannie Helen Burroughs, Mary McLeod Bethune, W.E.B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes. “It is with those people that Walker collaborated in some of the most influential civil rights organizations of the time period,” Bullard says, including the NAACP, National Urban League, National Negro Business League and National Association of Colored Women.
Walker hosted many distinguished names from the national African-American community, including Nannie Helen Burroughs, Mary McLeod Bethune, W.E.B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes. “It is with those people that Walker collaborated in some of the most influential civil rights organizations of the time period,” Bullard says, including the NAACP, National Urban League, National Negro Business League and National Association of Colored Women.
Family kitchen. The kitchen is where most of the family meals took place. “The Walker family was a pretty typical American family. They ate most of their meals in the kitchen, and they enjoyed to eat hot dogs and drink Coca-Cola,” Bullard says.
While Walker presided over the community and business runnings of the house, Polly Payne, Maggie and husband Armstead Walker’s adopted daughter and a distant relative of Armstead’s, ran the domestic duties. She had lived with the family since she was a young girl; as an adult, she continued to live in the home as a paid nanny, housekeeper and cook.
While Walker presided over the community and business runnings of the house, Polly Payne, Maggie and husband Armstead Walker’s adopted daughter and a distant relative of Armstead’s, ran the domestic duties. She had lived with the family since she was a young girl; as an adult, she continued to live in the home as a paid nanny, housekeeper and cook.
The den. Walker commissioned architect Charles T. Russell to expand and remodel the house in 1922. By then it was accommodating 12 family members from four generations.
The remodel included enclosing a side porch to make this narrow den. Russell added Colonial Revival details to the front porch and interiors, expanded the second-story balcony, and added more bedrooms at the rear of the house, transforming it into the stately mansion visitors see today.
Russell was the first licensed African-American architect in Richmond. After designing Walker’s bank building in 1911, he would design many other residences and commercial and civic buildings in Jackson Ward, helping to solidify the neighborhood as a thriving economic center.
The remodel included enclosing a side porch to make this narrow den. Russell added Colonial Revival details to the front porch and interiors, expanded the second-story balcony, and added more bedrooms at the rear of the house, transforming it into the stately mansion visitors see today.
Russell was the first licensed African-American architect in Richmond. After designing Walker’s bank building in 1911, he would design many other residences and commercial and civic buildings in Jackson Ward, helping to solidify the neighborhood as a thriving economic center.
Master bedroom. Walker’s bedroom overlooked East Leigh Street from the second story and offered a commanding view of Jackson Ward, the neighborhood she had supported and contributed to. After being confined to a wheelchair, she spent much of her time here, even entertaining guests.
A manual elevator was installed at the back of the house in 1928, and a kitchenette and home office were outfitted upstairs, enabling mobility and self-sufficiency. “She didn’t want to be shut away in the back of the house on the first floor,” Bullard says. The neighborhood responded to her move upstairs as well, altering the St. Luke Cadets Parade route to pass in front of her house when she could no longer march in it.
She passed away peacefully in this bed on Dec. 15, 1934, at the age of 70.
A manual elevator was installed at the back of the house in 1928, and a kitchenette and home office were outfitted upstairs, enabling mobility and self-sufficiency. “She didn’t want to be shut away in the back of the house on the first floor,” Bullard says. The neighborhood responded to her move upstairs as well, altering the St. Luke Cadets Parade route to pass in front of her house when she could no longer march in it.
She passed away peacefully in this bed on Dec. 15, 1934, at the age of 70.
Walker working at home in her wheelchair circa 1928 to 1932
A Window Into Her Life and Work
Since Walker’s husband had predeceased her, daughter-in-law Hattie inherited the home after Walker’s death and continued to live there with her family. In 1979, Maggie Laura Walker — Hattie’s daughter and Walker’s oldest granddaughter — deeded it to the National Park Service. The park service spent six years restoring the house to the appearance it had when Walker lived there and then opened it to the public.
Today, visitors can experience the house as it was, gaining a window into the life and work of Maggie Walker, a relentless worker for the struggling and the marginalized. “She gave us the blueprint to do this: education, hard work, determination and cooperation. Anybody can use those qualities to make good in this world,” Bullard says.
Visiting Maggie L. Walker’s home: Walker’s home at 110½ E. Leigh St. and several other buildings make up the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site. The visitor center (and park entrance) is at 600 N. Second St. The site is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
A Window Into Her Life and Work
Since Walker’s husband had predeceased her, daughter-in-law Hattie inherited the home after Walker’s death and continued to live there with her family. In 1979, Maggie Laura Walker — Hattie’s daughter and Walker’s oldest granddaughter — deeded it to the National Park Service. The park service spent six years restoring the house to the appearance it had when Walker lived there and then opened it to the public.
Today, visitors can experience the house as it was, gaining a window into the life and work of Maggie Walker, a relentless worker for the struggling and the marginalized. “She gave us the blueprint to do this: education, hard work, determination and cooperation. Anybody can use those qualities to make good in this world,” Bullard says.
Visiting Maggie L. Walker’s home: Walker’s home at 110½ E. Leigh St. and several other buildings make up the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site. The visitor center (and park entrance) is at 600 N. Second St. The site is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Photo by Zach Clarke
On July 15, 2017, on what would have been Maggie Walker’s 153rd birthday, Richmond unveiled a 10-foot-tall bronze statue to honor her and her contributions to the city. Created by sculptor Antonio Mendez, the statue stands in a plaza at the intersection of East Broad and Adams streets, close to Walker’s home and the bank she founded in 1903.
On July 15, 2017, on what would have been Maggie Walker’s 153rd birthday, Richmond unveiled a 10-foot-tall bronze statue to honor her and her contributions to the city. Created by sculptor Antonio Mendez, the statue stands in a plaza at the intersection of East Broad and Adams streets, close to Walker’s home and the bank she founded in 1903.
House at a Glance
Who lived here: Maggie Walker and her family, which over the years included her mother (Elizabeth Draper Mitchell), her husband (Armstead Walker Jr.), two sons (Russell and Melvin), their wives and four children, and her adopted daughter, Polly Payne
Location: Jackson Ward, Richmond, Virginia
Year built: 1883, with renovations by Walker in 1904-05 and 1922
A Blossoming Community
Maggie Walker’s house at 110½ E. Leigh St. now resides in a National Historic Landmark District. When she bought it in 1904, it sat in Richmond’s African-American cultural and economic epicenter.
The Jackson Ward neighborhood had blossomed after the Civil War, earning the nickname The Harlem of the South. Black-owned businesses emerged and thrived, skilled artisans established themselves, and the neighborhood grew in economic power. The 100 block of East Leigh Street was called Quality Row, as this was where the neighborhood’s lawyers, doctors, ministers and, with Walker, bankers lived.