As Right Worth Grand Secretary-Treasurer of the Independent Order of St. Luke, an African American fraternal and cooperative insurance society, Maggie Lena Walker (186?-1934) is credited with single-handedly bringing the organization back from the brink of insolvency by biographer Marlowe (a former anthropology professor at Howard U.). Walker, who became the wealthiest African American women known through her founding and steering of the first Black-owned bank, is also lauded as one of the great African American leaders of her time. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR