Richmond Public School Diploma

Maggie Lena Mitchell Walker was among the first generation of Richmond African American's to attend public school. Her early education gave Walker the vocabulary-and the vision- for future leadership. Her graduating class of 1883 conducted one of the nation's first racially-motivated school protests. Having been denied a graduation ceremony in the Richmond Theatre, the students of Richmond Colored Normal School held a public strike, calling attention to their inferior treatment. Following her formal education, Walker herself became a teacher, spending three years teaching at Richmond's Valley School. Though she relinquished her classroom career after marrying in 1886, Mrs. Walker would remain an educator for life.