VCC Magazine Fall 2019

They Changed Us All By Hannah King The Great Depression was dismal here in Richmond, as everywhere across the nation. Banks were collapsing. One that did not collapse— indeed, it expanded—was the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank founded in 1903 by legendary Richmond native, one Miss Maggie Lena Walker. Maggie Lena Walker, born July 15, 1864, to enslaved parents, was a civil rights activist as well as a businesswoman in the post- Civil War South. Her entrepreneurial skills would forever change business for African Americans and women alike. of African Americans moving forward in American society whereas before they were limited in this aspect of their lives. At the age of 14, Walker joined an organization called the Independent Order of St. Luke’s. This was an African American led organization that helped the sick and elderly in the Richmond area. Walker began publishing the organization’s newspaper,  The St. Luke Herald , in 1902. Through her work with this organization and newspaper,Walker encouraged many African American business owners in the area to grow their economic power.  Walker was the first woman of any race living in the Americas to be a founder of a bank in the United States. This bank, the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank would expand across the state of Virginia by the year 1924. With over 50,000 members, the bank survived the Great Depression. It is still in operation today and known as Premier Bank. Many historians view this as an example In 1915, Walker’s husband passed under mysterious circumstances and left her in charge of their large estate. Even after her husband’s passing, Walker continued to persevere and continue to be a prominent African American female figure in the state. She continued to work with the Independent Order of St. Luke’s while also advocating for women’s rights with the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). Walker also worked closely with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Walker fell ill in 1928 and was forced into a wheelchair for the last few years of her life. Even throughout her illness, Walker remained a strong figure for the African American community and community of women in the Richmond area. She also remained the chairman of the Penny Savings Bank and leader of the Independent Order of St. Luke’s until her death on December 15, 1934. Walker is memorialized for her work by having her home be deemed as a National Historic Site by the National Park Service. The home was purchased from theWalker family in 1979 and is now a museum in Walker’s community of Jackson Ward, in Richmond. In 1991, the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies was established in Richmond. Laura Lu Scherer Copenhaver was born in Texas on August 29, 1868. She and her family moved to Smyth County, Va., in 1871. There, her father founded Marion Female College (now known as Marion College). Copenhaver was the Director of Information for the Virginia FarmBureau Federation. Here she advanced the regional agricultural economy. Her goal was to improve the financial wellbeing of local farms and creating rural schools, churches, and businesses. She believed in cooperative marketing of agricultural products for the local farming families to improve their overall wellbeing.

Around the same time, she opened a textile business in her home called Rosemont. Here, she used locally sourced materials such as wool and hired local women to work for her. They would make coverlets with traditional patterns. Eventually, this small business would become known nationally as Rosemont Industries. Some of the women working at the company would design the items while other items would be based on antiques. Copenhaver wanted to create textiles “worth owning” while also giving women a profitable wage. Soon, Rosemont Industries became a worldwide sensation. Copenhaver was asked to run for U.S. House of Representatives after women gained the right to vote but turned it down as she did not want to leave her family for politics. One of Copenhaver’s passions since she was a child was writing poems, fiction, and pageants with her younger sister for the United Lutheran Church in America along with her younger sister.  Heralds of Christ  is one of her most well-known works. She also had a passion for missionary work throughout her life. In 1916, Copenhaver became an executive member of the Women’s

The bank survived the Great Depression while many others collapsed. “ ”

Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Southwestern Virginia and in 1920, she filled an empty seat on the Literature Committee of the Women’s Missionary Society of the United Lutheran Church. In 1928, she was elected chair of the committee and remained in that position even in 1937 after the committee became the Education Department. In 1925, Copenhaver, along with the help of her cousin Reverend Kenneth Killinger established the Konnarock Training center. Copenhaver died at Rosemont on

December 18, 1940, after a life filled with accomplishments. After her death, her sister, Minerva May Scherer, took over Rosemont Industries. In 1960, Copenhaver’s children renamed the company Laura Copenhaver Industries, Inc. and continued to make textiles well into the 21st Century. Both Maggie Lena Walker and Laura Lu Scherer Copenhaver were amazing Virginia women in business making strides in areas that many people did not believe they could. Maggie Walker was the first woman of any race in the Americas to open and operate a bank. Laura Copenhaver was a businesswoman long before many women came into the workforce. Hannah King is a freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University and is an intern at David Bailey Associates and Virginia Capitol Connections.

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