Pennies to Dollars

The Story of Maggie Lena Walker

by Muriel Miller Branch and Dorothy Marie Rice

"This biography is about a little-known figure in African-American history. Born to an ex-slave mother and white immigrant father from Ireland, Maggie Lena Walker began life in Richmond, Virginia, in 1867, a tremendous disadvantage. She endured poverty and the murder of her stepfather, acquired an education, became a teacher, and achieved prominence in the fight against racial intolerance. Walker is best remembered as the founder and administrative head of the oldest continuously operated black bank in America. . . . This is a book worth considering. . . . Black-and-white photos are scattered throughout." – School Library Journal (10/97)

"Enlivened by quotes from Walker’s speeches and diary as well as by excerpts from oral histories. . . . This book sheds light on an important period in African American history." – Booklist (11/1/97)

Maggie Walker is well-known in Richmond, Virginia, where her home is now a national historic site, but her birthright was poverty and toil. At age 14, she volunteered for a mutual-help society known as the Independent Order of St. Luke; two years later she was studying accounting at night and teaching school by day as well. By 1899 Maggie was running the Order, and shortly had established an educational fund and a penny savings bank for blacks–today the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company of Richmond. She went on to establish a chapter of the NAACP and speak out on behalf of women’s concerns, and the concerns of her people during the hard, hard times of Jim Crow laws and forced segregation in the South.

That this was achieved against the backdrop of tragedy–the mysterious death of her stepfather, the death of her husband at their son’s hands, personal and business attacks, and a crippling physical disability–is all the more remarkable.

About the Authors

Muriel Miller Branch is a library media specialist and storyteller with several books to her credit. Co-author Dorothy Marie Rice is a teacher of gifted children and co-author of another Linnet Book, The Seventeenth Child. Both are with the Richmond Public School system.

Looking for books about remarkable girls and women? Check our list of Women’s History.

For Linnet titles about the African American experience, click here.