National Park Service to Commemorate 145th Anniversary of Maggie L. Walker's Birthday

Date: July 14, 2009
Contact: Eola Dance, 804 771-2017 x. 22

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site and the Maggie L. Walker Historical Foundation will commemorate Maggie Walker’s birthday, Saturday, July 18, 2009. Join us at 2 pm at Third St. Bethel AME Church located at 616 N. 3rd St. Richmond, VA 23223. Immediately following the program share cake and punch at Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site located at 600 N. 2nd St. Tours of Mrs. Walker’s house will be offered from 3 pm to 5 pm. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/mawa or call [phone] x24.

About the program
During her life time, Maggie L. Walker claimed she was born in 1867. Like many African Americans at that time she did not possess a birth certificate documenting her birth year. Join Elvatrice Parker Belsches, author of Black America Series: Richmond, VA as she shares her research discoveries documenting Maggie Walker’s birth year of 1864. Enjoy musical selections from the First African Baptist Church Youth Choir, witness a dramatic reading of Mrs. Walker’s historic 1901 speech by Marie Goodman Hunter, and join us as we reflect on her message of faith, hope and courage.

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, home of the first African American woman in the United States to become President of a chartered bank, has been a National Park Site since 1978. The National Park Service preserves the home of Mrs. Walker, who was the leader of the Independent Order of St. Luke, an important benevolent association. In addition, she was also a philanthropist, a feminist, an early advocate of civil rights, becoming active in many national organizations. Guided tours of her restored home, located in historic Jackson Ward, are given by National Park Rangers at the Visitor Center, 600 North Second Street, open Monday through Saturday 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. The site is closed Sundays, New Years, Thanksgiving and Christmas Days. Admission is Free.