February 27, 2007
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Profile America for the 27th day of Black History Month. Maggie Lena Walker was the first woman in America to become a local bank president. Born to former slaves in Richmond, Virginia, she worked first as a teacher, then as an agent for an insurance company. She also founded a newspaper. In 1903, she started the Saint Luke Penny Savings Bank. When the Depression came along, she bought all the local black-owned banks in town and renamed the combined institution the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company. For decades, her home in Richmond was a center for African-American business and social life. The home now belongs to the National Park Service. Today, there are more than 90,000 commercial bank offices and branches around the U.S. This special Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.