‘Labor of Love’: Maggie L. Walker’s 161st birthday celebrations to begin this week

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- In honor of Maggie L. Walker's 161st birthday, festivities will take place in the City of Richmond.

Most notably, the lifelong Richmonder was the first Black woman to charter a bank, St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, and later became its president. Walker was also a civil rights activist. 

The theme of this years' birthday celebrations is "Labor of Love."

Walker’s great great granddaughter, Liza Mickens, said she was always working out of love for her community, whether as a businesswoman or an activist.

"It’s such an honor to be related to a woman like this," Mickens said. "Somebody who was so instrumental in creating change in the city that I call home.” 

Walker was born on July 15, 1864. Her mother, Elizabeth Draper, was a former enslaved woman. Walker married Armstead Walker Jr. in 1886. The couple went on to adopt a daughter and had three sons, sadly losing their second when he was seven months old.

Mickens said her grandmother was Walker's last living granddaughter.

“It’s always the best time of the year for us to just see the way the community comes out and celebrates her," Mickens said.

Each year, the National Park Service and the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site plan community events in honor of her. This year, events span across two weeks, centered around improving the lives of others. 

“For her, it was a labor of love to uplift her community," said Supervisory Park Ranger of the historic site, Ajena Rogers. “In her time, she would create opportunities for people to work together in unity.” 

Rogers has worked at the site since 2010, and said just being in Walker's home inspires her.

“There’s a photograph...in Mrs. Walker’s home that when I get really down, I go into that room and the way she is portrayed in that photograph -- she looks at you and says, ‘Get up, get out. Don’t cross your arms, saying you can’t do anything. Get out there and do it.” 

Events include a clean-up at the Evergreen Cemetery where Walker is buried, specialized house tours and a walking tour through the Jackson Ward neighborhood. Walker and her husband moved into their home in Jackson Ward in 1904, where the historic site is located at 110 1/2 East Leigh Street.

Mickens said her family handed the keys to the home over to the park service in the 1970s, and there are still 90% of its original artifacts inside today.

Walker passed away on December 15, 1934, at 70 years old due to diabetic gangrene.

“Maggie Walker’s last words live with me all the time," Mickens said. "She said, ‘Have faith, have hope, have courage and carry on.’ And I think that that is something that I just try to embody in every being of my life...To see the way people get excited about somebody who lived over a hundred years ago is so amazing, and it just shows the mark she left on her community and her city."

Events start Friday, July 11, and run through July 19. More information on the events listed below can be found here.

July 11, 12, 18 and 19

• The celebration starts with specialized house tours, kids’ activities and a pop-up display at Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site
• Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, located at 600 N. 2nd St., from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

July 12

• Join the Richmond Department of Parks and Recreation and the Friends of East End for a Day of Service with a clean-up event at Evergreen Cemetery, the sacred resting place of Maggie L. Walker and thousands of other African Americans whose legacies deserve preservation and respect.
• Evergreen Cemetery Clean-Up, located at 50 Evergreen Rd., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

July 12

• At noon, the Elegba Folklore Society offers their "In The Footsteps of Maggie Walker" tour, designed as a contextual biography of Jackson Ward luminary, Maggie Lena Walker.
• Elegba Folklore Society, located at 101 E. Broad St.

July 12

• The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia invites you to participate in three 30-minute rolling sessions offered every hour at 15 minutes past the hour -- 2:15, 3:15 and 4:15 p.m.
• Black History Museum, located at 122 W. Leigh St., from 2:15 to 5 p.m.

July 15 - Maggie L. Walker's birthday

• Park rangers will offer a 45-minute Jackson Ward walking tour meeting at the Maggie Lena Walker Memorial Plaza at 9:30 a.m. Stops will feature the site of Walker's department store, bank, home, and will end with a walk-through of the home's first floor. No reservations needed.
• Maggie Lena Walker Memorial Plaza, Broad and Adams streets at 9:30 a.m.
• Library of Virginia, located at 800 E. Broad St. at 10 a.m. and noon
• Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, located at 600 N. 2nd St., from 2 to 4 p.m.
• St. Luke Legacy Center, located at 900 St. James St. from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

July 16

• Step into a space of healing, joy and rejuvenation at Community Wellness Day, a free event dedicated to supporting your physical, mental and emotional well-being. Whether you're looking to reset, reconnect, or just enjoy a day filled with positive vibes, this event has something for everyone.
• St. Luke Legacy Center, located at 900 St. James St., from noon to 8 p.m.

July 19

• The Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities will host a Maggie L. Walker Day of Service with service projects in the Jackson Ward neighborhood.
• Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, located at 600 N. 2nd St., at 8 a.m.