Maggie Walker’s birthday celebrated in Richmond

SLIDESHOW: Maggie Walker Birthday Celebration

You know you've made an impact on the world when they celebrate your birthday 75 years after you've gone.

About 75 people gathered yesterday to pay tribute to the life and legacy of trailblazing Richmond native Maggie L. Walker in commemoration of her 145th birthday.

"She'd be so happy," said Walker's 84-year-old granddaughter, Elizabeth Randolph, reflecting on the songs of praise and words of gratitude that filled the Third Street Bethel AME Church.

The celebration occurred just two blocks from the home where the African-American entrepreneur and civic advocate lived, a national historic site in the city's Jackson Ward neighborhood.

But the church was the very place where Walker delivered her famous "Nickels to Dollars" speech to the fraternal Order of St. Luke -- advocating in 1901 the creation of a savings bank to assist the black community.

The organization started the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903, with Walker as the first black female bank president in the United States. The institution thrived and by 1929 had consolidated other Richmond banks serving the black community into the Consolidated Bank & Trust Company, which survives to this day.

"She always said, 'Save your pennies,'" Randolph said.

Walker did more than promote thrift in Richmond's black community. The daughter of a former slave, she supported equal rights for women and fairness for African-Americans in education and employment opportunities. Her friends, whose pictures decorated the walls of her Leigh Street home, included W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey and Langston Hughes.

There was some extra meaning to the Walker birthday celebration this year. Earlier this month, a Richmond historian confirmed through a family bank account record that Walker was born earlier than previously believed. Her birth year had been thought to be 1867, but the 1872 record said she was 8, which would make her birth year 1864.

The National Park Service sponsors Walker's birthday celebration every year. David Ruth, superintendent of the Richmond National Battlefield Park and the Walker historic site, said his goal is to have 3,000 children visit the site by next year's commemoration.

"This is not just a Richmond story. This is something we've got to take to the nation," Ruth said.

Richmond City Councilman Chris A. Hilbert said Walker is "an inspirational figure for our city's history, but also for our current history.

"She talked about dreaming big dreams because they will capture the imagination of people," Hilbert said. "It's certainly no less important today that we continue the big dreams in our city."

Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or .