Photograph, banquet

A wide-angle photograph of a banquet in honor of James Weldon Johnson, lawyer, writer, activist, and composer of the black national anthem. Mrs. Walker attended the banquet held on May 14, 1931 in the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. Maggie Walker is seated in her custom-built wheelchair just left of the center of the room. Her son, Melvin, rests his hand on the back of Walker's chair. Walker's close friend and colleague, Mary McLeod Bethune is among the other notables in the photograph.