Born in Richmond, Virginia, USA, the capital city of the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War, Maggie L. Walker witnessed firsthand the vast dissonance between white and black privileges in society in post-emancipation America. But she never let societal oppression stop her from pursuing and achieving success.

The daughter of a former slave and a white Confederate soldier, Maggie L. Walker was born in 1864. Her parents were never married, but her mother, Elizabeth, married William Mitchell soon after her birth. After the death of her stepfather, Elizabeth supported Maggie and her half-brother Johnnie by working as a laundress. When Maggie wasn’t in school, she helped her mother with deliveries.

When she was 14 years old, Maggie joined the Independent Order of St. Luke (IOSL). Originally a burial society, the IOSL grew to become a fraternal order dedicated to the social and economic advancement of African Americans. Maggie completed her schooling in 1883 and became a teacher until her marriage in 1886. Although she no longer worked as a teacher, she continued her affiliation with the IOSL and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming grand deputy matron in 1895. She established a youth arm of the IOSL to inspire young African Americans, and in 1899, she became Right Worthy Grand Secretary of the organization. With the IOSL on the verge of bankruptcy in 1901, Maggie Walker presented an outline of her plan to save it . . . and she did.

Over the next four years, she founded the St. Luke Herald newspaper for local chapters, established the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, and opened the St. Luke Emporium department store, which offered employment for African Americans and gave the community access to less-expensive goods.

As the first president of the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, Maggie became the first African American woman to charter a bank and serve as its president.

Later in life, she developed diabetes, which led to paralysis and life in a wheelchair. But that did not slow Maggie Walker, who held the position of Right Worthy Grand Secretary in the IOSL until her death in 1934. During that time, she recruited more than 100,000 members, secured employment of full-time staff for the IOSL, and expanded to 24 states, offering disability and life insurance to African Americans during a time when white-owned firms denied access to the black community. She was inducted into the Global Business Hall of Fame in 2001.