NPS to Commemorate 80th Anniversary of the Death and Funeral of Maggie L. Walker
From Tuesday, December 16, through Saturday, December 20, 2014, Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site will commemorate the 80th anniversary of Maggie Walker’s death. National Park Service rangers will be offering themed house tours throughout the week on a walk-in basis during regular park hours from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tours will begin at the park’s visitor center at 600 N. 2nd St., in Richmond. The tours will focus on the home as the site of Walker’s death, her wake, and memorialization. Visitors should allocate approximately one hour for their visit.
Also during the week, the park will be using its Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/MaggieLWalkerNHS) to share stories and quotes from her closest friends following her death.
The beginning and end dates for the week-long commemoration were chosen to include the dates of her death and funeral. Maggie Walker passed away on December 15, 1934, at her home on Leigh Street in Jackson Ward due to complications with diabetes. She was 70 years old. Her funeral was held at the First African Baptist Church on December 19, 1934. Following the funeral, she was interred at Evergreen Cemetery.
Nannie Helen Burroughs, one of Walker’s closest and most accomplished friends, sat with the Walker family during the funeral. Upon returning to her native Washington, D.C., Burroughs wrote a letter to the editor of Richmond’s News Leader, reflecting positively on Maggie Walker, her funeral, the descriptions of Walker in local white newspapers, and the respect shown her deceased friend by public officials, particularly the police force.
“The lessons of her life and what took place in Richmond on Wednesday will make on[e] [of] the most thrilling and challenging chapters in the history of Virginia and of our Democracy,” wrote Burroughs. “What happened in your city is a happy assurance that the day will come in America when those who render real service, regardless of race, (in the language of Emerson) will find that ‘the world will make a beaten path to their door.’”
A national activist for the rights of African Americans and women, Maggie Walker was the leader of the Independent Order of St. Luke, an important benevolent association, and the first African American woman in the United States to become president of a chartered bank. She worked to inspire young people to learn self-discipline, self-help, and selflessness, and groomed young leaders who knew the importance of helping others and their communities.
The commemoration comes six months after the park celebrated the 150th anniversary of Maggie Walker’s birth in July 1864, the final year of the American Civil War.
“This year’s juxtaposition of the two anniversaries – Maggie Walker’s birth and her passing – provides us with a unique opportunity to highlight her role in the nation’s struggle to fulfill the promise of emancipation that came with the end of the Civil War,” said park superintendent David Ruth. “Visitors to the site during this special commemoration of the anniversary of her death and funeral will learn not only about the impact of Maggie Walker’s work, but how her passing 80 years ago affected the people in her life.”
The Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site has been a unit of the National Park System since 1978. Guided tours of her restored home, located in historic Jackson Ward, are given by National Park rangers. The park visitor center is open Tuesday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Additional information is available at 804-771-2017, or on the web at www.nps.gov/mawa or www.Facebook.com/MaggieLWalkerNHS.
