Evening star., 1929-07-28
BY MARY CHURCH TERRELL.

Woman bank presidents in the United
States are very rare indeed. It is quite
possible to go through a whole lifetime
without seeing one. The reason the
subject Of this sketch deserves special
mention is because she is the only
woman bank president In the United
States who has a drop Of African blood
in her veins. And there Is every rea-
son to believe she Is the only one In
the whole world of her racial persua-
sion who presides over a bank direc-
torate. When an individual happens
to be one in $4,000, 900 to fill an un-
usual and dihcult position with brill
liant success 1t is natural and fitting
to call attention to his or her career.
AS you pass the corner Of First and
Marshall streets in Richmond, Va. you
may see the st. Luke Bank & Trust
Co., OF which Mrs. Maggie Mitchell
Walker Is president. Twenty-six years
bank was started under the name OF
the st. Luke Penny Savings Bank. She
was then secretary of the Independent
Order of st. Luke grand secretary
treasurer of the order. she was called)
and she persuaded the directors and
members of that organization that ii
would be a good thing to establish Q
bank which could invest q part of the
idle funds Of the order and add to Its
wealth. Later on the Legislature OF
Virginia enacted a law which forced
the separation Of secret orders and
their banks, and the name was changed
to the st. Luke's Bank g. Trust Co
Under the presidency Of Mrs. Walker
this bank Is conceded to be one Of the
best managed financial institutions in
the United States. When the bank was
established it had deposit of only
$4,000, which has increased In size till
it has reached $50o.000.
Daughter Of Washerwoman.
When one sees Mrs. Walker sitting
in solid mahogany chair In her beau
tifully appointed ONCE at the bank it
is hard to visualize her as the daugh-
ter Of a washerwoman carrying clothes
which she and her mother had laun-
dered to the aristocracy Of the Capital
Of the Confederacy. Yet this woman
bank presidents early life was passed
amid humble and unpromising sur
roundings.
When Maggie Mitchell was born, how
ever, her condition In life was far bet
ter than was that Of many q child
whose parents had been slaves and but
newly freed. as hers had been. Her
father, William Mitchell. was the head
waiter Of the far-famed st. Charles
Hotel Of Richmond. which was about as
high q rung on the ladder as. men of
his group could then hope to reach.
He provided a comfortable home for
his family, not far from the house said
to have been occupied by Edgar Allan
Poe when he was boy living with
John Allan, his adopted father. And
at no great distance from the two-story
frame house in which Maggie lived
was St. Pauls Church, where President
JEFF" Davis received the news that the
cause Of the Confederacy had been lost.
But a tragedy occurred in Maggie's
girlhood which made life for her much
harder than it would otherwise have
been. Her father suddenly disap-
peared from view. For f1ve days his
family, his friends and the police of
found his lifeless body in the river.
There was little doubt that William
Mitchell had been robbed, murdered
and his body thrown into the James.
Change Of Conditions.
After her fathers death the daugh-
ter's condition In life was completely
changed. A heavy responsibility was
placed upon her shoulders. Her mother
had her two children, a son and a
and herself to support. She
ing in washing than by engaging in
else. and this she resolved to
do on as large q scale as possible. Mag
gle was an invaluable assistant. She
helped with the cooking, the washing,
the ironing and fetched and carried
clothes. But In spite Of the hard
manual labor she had to perform, Mag
gle Mitchell graduated from the high
school which had been established for
colored children in 1883. After that
the young woman taught for three years
in this school in which she had formerly
been. o pupil, and then married Arm
SON Of an expert brickmason and build
ing contractor, by whom some OF the
finest buildings in Richmond had been
When Maggie Mitchell was only IA
years old she took step which inf1u-
enced and shaped her whole life. She
Joined the Independent Order Of st.
Luke, whose headquarters were then
and still are in Richmond. 1t would
be as impossible to tell the story Of
Maggie walkers life without referring
give the history Of the st. Luke Order
without telling the role which its right
worthy grand secretary-treasurer played.
She made the order and the order
made her. While serving this ofgani-
zation the opportunity was presented
to Mrs. Walker to display those rare
Qualities Of head and heart which have
caused her name to be known and her
praises to be sung in every section Of
the United States where the colored
American lives.
History Of Order.
The Independent Order of st. Luke
has an interesting history, indeed. 1t
was formed In Baltimore, Nd, In 1857
by Mary Prout, who had been q slave,
shortly after the emancipation procla-
nation set her free. All around her she
saw the newly eiriancipated slaves In