In the Former Confederate Capital, This Monument Stands Tall and Vibrant

As statues fall, one becomes a beacon of hope

The Maggie Lena Walker statue in Richmond< Virginia | Photo: Richmond Region Tourism; Illustration: Emily Carpenter/Thrillist
The Maggie Lena Walker statue in Richmond< Virginia | Photo: Richmond Region Tourism; Illustration: Emily Carpenter/Thrillist

For months, Richmond, Virginia’s famed Monuments Avenue has been a flashpoint for protests surrounding police brutality and Black Lives Matter. The Avenue’s namesake statues began to disappear from the former Confederate capital when protesters toppled a 113-year-old statue of Jefferson Davis on June 10. Shortly after, three more prominent statues, including Stonewall Jackson, were ordered removed by mayor Levar Stoney.

But the statue of Robert E. Lee, owned by the state, remains. Now a gathering place for demonstrators, the concrete the Confederate general now sits on has been completely covered in graffiti. The area has been informally renamed Marcus-David Peters Circle, after a Black man who was killed by RPD in 2018.

But less than two miles from the Lee statue that was erected in 1890, there’s a three-year old statue of a Black woman that’s received the exact opposite treatment and become a beacon of hope and healing.

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Maggie Lena Walker monument
Maggie Lena Walker, adorned with flowers | Peyton Curry

While the names of notable Black women like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune are taught in schools, the story of Maggie Lena Walker has largely gone unacknowledged beyond Richmond. Walker was a civil rights activist, educator, and staunch advocate for Black economic independence. In a 1901 speech she stated, “Let us have a bank that will take the nickels and turn them into dollars.”

Two years later, on November 2, 1903, Walker opened the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank and became the first Black woman in the US to charter a bank. On the first day alone, the institution had more than $9,000 in deposits, which adjusted for inflation, is more than $260,000. Though she remains left out of many conversations, Walker is women's history, Black history, and more importantly, American history.

And while other monuments in Richmond have been the subjects of a reckoning, Walker has received the flowers and adoration she deserved in life.

“Many Confederate statues on Monument Ave. had been tagged with graffiti, and my friend Maya Shaw had this idea of highlighting the statues on the march routes that hadn’t been getting attention,” said Hillary Anderson, owner of floral design studio, Vessel & Stem.
 
Anderson and Shaw, a Vessel & Stem floral designer, brought “love and beauty” to Walker’s statue with the help of flowers donated by Fourteen Acres Flower Farm, another local Richmond company. 
 
In early June, the base of the 10-foot bronze statue was surrounded by a floral arrangement that included white lace flowers, tall apricot foxgloves, and colorful snapdragons. In addition to the vibrant flowers, hand-poured “Black Lives Fucking Matter” candles from Miami’s Garden surrounded the base at Walker’s feet. 
 
“The neighborhood where the Maggie Walker statue is located had just been hit hard with riots -- many small businesses were boarded up or damaged -- so we wanted to bring a sense of hope and unity to the neighborhood,” said Anderson.  

The Robert E. Lee monument, covered in graffiti | Patrice J. Williams

Walker’s statue, which was unveiled in July 2017, is located in RVA’s Jackson Ward area. The neighborhood was formerly known as the Harlem of the South and the Black Wall Street for its focus on self sufficiency and a slew of Black owned banks, restaurants, and more.

Today, Walker’s statue stands in front of boarded up businesses but remains a focal point of Jackson Ward and a source of inspiration. The flowers surrounding the monument, which also features plaques noting Walker’s achievements, stayed up for about a week, and the location has even been the site of a youth rally and a day of service to honor what would have been Walker’s 156th birthday on July 15.

Though the flowers are gone, Anderson would love to turn the decorations into an annual tradition. She and her Vessel & Stem team also adorned the markers for fellow Richmond legends Arthur Ashe and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

The bright, beautiful floral arrangement was an obvious contrast to the boarded up buildings in Jackson Ward and the mishmash of colorful, intentional graffiti below Lee’s longstanding statue.

Liza Mickens, the great great-granddaughter of Walker, told the Richmond Free Press the shows of protest and acknowledgement of the past is right in line with Walker’s mission.

“That gesture not only embraced Maggie Walker, who believed the future is in the hands of the youths, it embraces and champions Black voices, which is what the monument is all about," she said. “The protests and conversations are a continuation of the historic fight for empowerment, equality, and equity for all Americans. But it is my generation’s responsibility to leave the world in a better place than when we came into it.”

Patrice J. Williams is a travel and lifestyle editor who traded her hectic NYC life for the slower-ish pace, yummy eats, and beer and wine scene of Richmond, VA. Her work has appeared in Travel+Leisure, USA Today, Lonely Planet, and she has made repeat appearances on the Today Show, Nate Berkus Show, and WEtv as a style expert. Follow her @PatriceJWill.