On April 27, 1903, Maggie Lena Walker made history by becoming the first Black woman in the United States to charter and serve as president of a bank. She led the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Virginia—an institution created to empower the Black community with access to financial services, savings programs, and economic independence at a time when most banks excluded African Americans. Under Walker’s leadership, the bank thrived through the Great Depression and eventually merged with two other Black-owned banks to form Consolidated Bank and Trust, the oldest continuously Black-operated bank in the country. Walker’s pioneering leadership laid the foundation for future generations of Black financial leaders and remains a symbol of economic empowerment.