Maggie L Walker National Historic Site

Went on a field trip with my 4^th grade students to the Maggie Walker House & they absolutely loved it! Students were very engaged; we viewed an informational film about her life, toured the exhibits, completed interactive activities, & toured her beautiful home.

Growing up in Richmond, I’ve visited the Maggie L. Walker House numerous times (school field trips).The Maggie L. Walker House is one of Richmond’s great historic landmarks. The house is located in historic Jackson Ward. I really enjoy taking the tour of the Maggie L. Walker House. I learned a lot of information about Maggie L. Walker from school field trips. This tour really educates you on some interesting facts about her life. I think it’s very interesting that Maggie L. Walker was born in Richmond, Virginia. The tour guides are very knowledgeable and friendly. There’s street parking around the house. I highly recommend visiting the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site. The experience is priceless. This is one of the best tours I’ve taken in Richmond.

To break up the Civil War-​ness of our trip, we decided to visit this National Parks site (we are big NPS fans and part of the passport program) while in Richmond. This park is free, and there is a guided tour (the only way to view the house) that lasts abotu a half an hour, that is conducted on the hour.
When we arrived, the rangers were about to give a tour to a kindergarten class, and asked if we wanted to join or come back in an hour to get the real tour. Since our schedule depended on us leaving Richmond at a certain time, we opted to sit in with the class (who were very well behaved and remembered the great and also morbid facts about Ms. Walker!). We watched a movie about Ms. Walker’s life, which familiarized us about her life and her importance to the African American community in Richmond.
Afterwards, we were taken through a hall of exhibits with items and artifacts from her life and her role in the church, her non-​profit, and personal life. The class had little activities to do after each section, but the ranger let us ‘grown-​ups’ know and were so appreciative that we were sitting through the kid’s version!
The house tour was very informative and fun with the kids. They were all given a picture of some object in the house and if the room we were in had the object they have to hold it up. I’m sure that’s not included in the regular tour! The furnishings in the house are all originals, and I love LOVE historical house tours, so viewing these pieces in the restored house was very interesting. The ranger leading this leg of the tour was very informative and presented it in a way that the kids understood what was important, as well as the adults– us and their chaperones.
Since the group was large and full of kids, we only went through the first floor. After the tour was done and the children embarked back to their bus, the ranger asked us if we would like to see the second floor. Much obliged, we did and he gave us a tour. It was great to have the ranger ‘to ourselves’ and we got to ask him some questions about the more controversial aspects of her life and he was super informative about Ms. Walker, her family, her organization, and the surrounding community (apparently one of her descendants lives right down the street!). It was a great tour!
Everyone was so particularly nice and helpful at this site. A great spot to visit if you’re in town. Parking is tricky– we ended up parking on the side street.

Maggie L. Walker was the first woman to found and serve as president of a bank in the United States. Today her house is run by the national park service, and you can stop by during business hours for a tour. Tours are given on a first-​come first-​serve basis. No reservations required unless you’ve got a party of more than 10 people.
On my visit, the tour guide was very knowledgable and she gave me a great tour of the house. I found the story of this strong woman to be interesting, and I always think it’s neat to see old things. All the items in the house are original family pieces. The tour doesn’t take that long, and it’s definitely a good stop if you’re doing history stuff in Richmond.

Given Richmond’s role in the Civil War and in the Civil Rights movement, everyone should visit the Maggie Walker house and the other African American history museums in Jackson Ward. Walker was a leading citizen in the city and the first African American woman in this country to charter and server as the president of a bank. Her house has been restored and furnished with several family pieces.