In the vein of The Engineer's Wife and Carolina Built, an
inspiring novel based on the remarkable true story of Virginia's Black
Wall Street and the indomitable Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a
formerly enslaved woman who became the first Black woman to establish
and preside over a bank in the United States.
Maggie Lena Walker was ambitious and unafraid. Her childhood in
19th-century Virginia helping her mother with her laundry service opened
her eyes to the overwhelming discrepancy between the Black residents and
her mother's affluent white clients. She vowed to not only secure the
same kind of home and finery for herself, but she would also help others
in her community achieve the same.
With her single-minded determination, Maggie buckled down and went from
schoolteacher to secretary-treasurer of the Independent Order of St.
Luke, founder of a newspaper, a bank, and a department store where Black
customers were treated with respect. With the help of influential
friends like W.E.B. DuBois and Mary McLeod, she revolutionized Richmond
in ways that are still felt today. Now, her rich, full story is revealed
in this stirring and intimate novel.