Essay Example on Maggie L. Walker: Pioneering Entrepreneur & Civil Rights Activist

1. Introduction

I intend to analyze the exhibit and life history of Maggie L. Walker (1864-1934), an iconic entrepreneur and civil rights activist. She devoted her whole career to fighting sexism, racism, and the economic oppression in America. Mrs. Walker is remembered for many things she did while still alive. The African American leader chattered a bank and newspaper during the error when women in America were not accorded right to vote. She emerged as an entrepreneur when the president of America, Jim Crow, had created laws that restricted the progress of the black in the country. Her portrait is placed at the national park service museum where people can view her painting and perceive her exact image in remembrance of her enormous work for the country. ("Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site - Museum Collections" pg.1)

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2. Why did you choose it?

I chose this exhibit because I love the role played by Maggie walker when she was still alive; her character cannot be compared with any women today. The admiration, the hard work she put into her career, and the love she had for fellow humanity are incomparable with anything in the world. She is the pioneer of women entrepreneurship and political figure for women in society. Also, I chose to explore the exhibit of Margie walker to know more about her lifestyle, the personality she had, and the career of such a great woman in society. Besides, I am tired of listening and reading incomplete stories about her, so this is what propels me to dig more information about Mrs. Walker's history.

3. Describe the exhibit in full detail

The exhibition is so fascinating, and it describes the life of Margie walker. In this portrait, the curator drew the art in remembrance of a former leader of the independent order of St. Luke, the wheel behind the economic uplift during the era of Jim Crow error. She is recognized as a patriot who pushed for human rights in the country and created a movement to abort slavery among blacks. She opened a departmental store and launch the newspaper, in the picture, the beads in her neck represent the chains worn by the slaves and in the background towards the left, is a portrait of a woman in her somber moods (Schlatter pg 3). The picture depicts the hardship that she underwent before acquiring all the wealth which she had. Maggie lived a simple life; the things she had to acquire as an entrepreneur made her contented with her life. These can be seen in her smiling face, which shows the contentment with her achievement.

4. What is the exhibit about?

The exhibit shows the work of Maggie walker in her final month on earth. The ceramic used to modify her portrait shows the series of plaster busts sold for fundraising and offered as a charity to organizations and individuals. For this reason, the cross on the picture depicts the love she had while alive. She meant well with her donations and tried to reach as many people as possible to restore humanity in the world.

5. Describe at least one artifact present in the exhibit.

The presence of a watch in the exhibit shows that the lady was time conscious, and she did not like wasting time in any way. She was cautious with time and always found a task to perform at free time. That what made her be a prominent person in the early century when women were considered to be lesser human beings in society.

6. How are the objects made and used?

The leather, silver-plated metal purse represents the extraordinary life of the Margie walker. The curator uses the wallet to denote the possession of women and the silver plates to describe the presence of money and what money and money objects in her possession. It is clear that Margie walker was rich, and she could afford all that life can provide to human beings on earth. In this case, the curator is trying to show that riches do not belong to us when we die.

The focus of the curator was on the people seen in the exhibit; he discusses the historical background of Maggie L. Walker, how she came into power, and the kind of life she lived in America. In the story, we are told that Maggie walker came from a humble background, but through hard work and determination, she managed to be what she was destined to be in life despite many challenges she faced on her way to power. The influence she had mainly depended on her education level, where we are told that she graduated from Richmond colored school. Also, her marriage to a local businessman created away towards the entrepreneurial skills that she exercised. It is through power and money that she was able to have an influence on the economy and even dictate government directives.

In the exhibit, the curator reveals that Margie walker lived in a quality row, which was reserved for the affluent black professional. The bottle beside the table reminds us of the colic concoction that was meant for horses that she once had while she was still alive. These show her love for animals, which was never depicted in history.

In the artifact, one can relate to the main story and still catch up with the unraveling events in her history. The artifact of Elizabeth Draper, the mother of Maggie Walker, clearly shows the historical background of the family to the text. The background of the portrait is dark, depicting that the origin of the family in Africa, customarily known as the Dark Continent. In the picture, one can tell that the garment worn by Elizabeth draper is like that of a soldier, someone who is always on the move, the suffering lot in the community as it is told in the story (Schlatter, pg. 12,). Also, the curator tried to depict slave clothes, as seen in the portrait of Elizabeth, which reflects the kind she lived before she became a laundress who raises her children through washing people's garments for pay.

Ultimately, one can say that the artifacts used in the exhibit help the curator in telling the story as the reader can create a vivid picture of how Maggie walker looks like, the life she lived, and her achievement. Most of the time, we are told a story, but we are not shown a picture of how things used to look like the exact image of the person in question. As we are told the resilience of Maggie walker through hardship when she lost almost everything in life, ranging from her two children, adoptive father and husband, she still had the guts to go on with life as usual. These serve as lessons to people or readers about the hardship that people encounter on their way to success. Therefore, it is imperative to learn from the story and have the artifacts accompanied by the real story of how things used to be in history.

Works Cited

"Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site - Museum Collections." NPS.gov Homepage (U.S. National Park Service), www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/Maggie_Walker/Maggie_Walker_bio.html

Schlatter, N. Elizabeth, et al. Growing Up in Civil Rights Richmond: A Community Remembers. University of Richmond Museums, Richmond, Virginia, 2019.