Madam C J Walker

Madam C. J. Walker 1867-1919, African-American entrepeneur, b. Delta, La., as Sarah Breedlove. Thought to be America's first black female millionaire, this daughter of ex-slaves was orphaned at 7, working at 10, married at 14, and a widow with an infant daughter at 20. She worked as a domestic and laundress and later sold hair-care products. In her scant spare time she experimented and developed (1905) an ointment and system to stop hair loss in African-American women and create smooth, shiny coiffures. In 1906 she moved to Denver, married newspaperman Charles J. Walker, and adopted Madam C. J. Walker as her business name. She expanded her product line, notably with a "pressing comb," and the two began selling her wares door-to-door. They proved so successful that she was able to hire saleswomen and to open stores and a beauty college. She moved (1910) her factory to Indianapolis and herself (1913) to Harlem, where she separated from her husband. Within a few years she had created a cosmetics empire and earned a fortune. An honored figure in business and philanthropy, she endowed educational institutions and supported many organizations to aid the African-American community. Her daughter, A'delia Walker, 1885-1931, b. Vicksburg, Miss., as Lelia McWilliams, was a well-known cultural figure in the 1920s, maintaining a salon attended by many members of the Harlem Renaissance .

Bibliography: See T. Due, The Black Rose (2000); A. Bundles, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker (2001); B. Lowry, Her Dream of Dreams: The Rise and Triumph of Madam C. J. Walker (2003)

Walker, Madame C.J. (1867–1919), African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, activist.Born on a Louisiana cotton plantation shortly after the end of slavery, Sarah Breedlove was orphaned at the age of seven. At ten she became a domestic worker, and at fourteen, living in Vicksburg, Mississippi, she married Moses McWilliams. He died in 1887, leaving her with a two‐year‐old daughter, Lelia (latter known as A'Lelia). Moving to St. Louis, she eked out a living as a washerwoman. Using available products, she also developed hair‐care treatments for black women, including remedies for baldness and other scalp conditions brought on by poor diet, stress, and damaging hair treatments.

Recognizing a lucrative market, she developed her own line of products for a growing clientele. She moved to Denver in 1905 and in 1906 married Charles Joseph Walker, a journalist who became her business partner and promoter. They marketed their products and the “Walker System” through door‐to‐door sales and promotional tours. In 1910 the Walkers moved the business and manufacturing enterprise to Indianapolis, Indiana, where they employed a large workforce, including women who demonstrated her products in homes. After Walker and her husband divorced, she and her daughter ran the business.

In 1914 she moved to New York City where, now a wealthy woman, she became a philanthropist and outspoken political activist. A successful entrepreneur and advocate of black women's economic independence, she often declared: “I got myself a start by giving myself a start.” She bequeathed substantial sums to black schools, organizations, and institutions. Her daughter conducted a salon that became a gathering place for the writers, artists, and musicians of the Harlem Renaissance.
See also African Americans.

Bibliography

Walter Fisher , Walker, Sarah Breedlove, in Edward T. James et al., eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950, III, pp. 533–535, 1971.
A'Lelia P. Bundles , Madam C.J. Walker—Cosmetics Tycoon Ms. (July 1983).
A'Lelia P. Bundles , Madam C.J. Walker—Entrepreneur, 1991.

Tiffany Ruby Patterson