Maggie Walker was born in 1867 in Richmond, Virginia. Her mother was once a slave in a rich woman’s house. When Maggie was very young, a thief killed her father. Her family was?impoverished, so Maggie's mother started doing laundry in her home. Maggie had to help her. She washed clothes every day,?but she continued to go to school. She was a very good student, especially in math.
After Maggie graduated from high school高级中学, she got a job as a teacher. In 1886,?she married Armistead Walker. They had two sons and Maggie stayed home to care for them. She also volunteered to help a social organization called the Order of St. Luke. This organization helped African Americans take care of the sick and bury the dead. Maggie Walker loved the work of the organization. The organization believed that African Americans should take care of each other.
Over the years,Maggie Walker had more and more responsibilities with the organization. In 1895,?she suggested that St. Luke begin a program for young people. This program became very popular with schoolchildren.In 1899,?Walk became Grand Secretary Treasurer of the St. Luke organization. However, because she was a woman, she received less than half the salary of the man who had the job before her.
The Order of St. Luke had a lot of financial difficulties when Walker took over接管. It had a lot of unpaid bills and only $31.61 in the bank. But soon Maggie Walker changed all of that. Her idea was to get new members to join the Organization.In just a few years, it grew from 3,400 members to 50,000 members. The organization bought a $100,000 office building and increased its staff to 55. Now Walker was ready for her next big step.