~~November 26, 2014~~
Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civil rights advocate Madam C.J. Walker famously became the first female self-made millionaire in America. Born in 1867 as Sarah Breedlove in Delta, Louisiana, Walker was the first child in her family born into freedom following the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation; Walker’s parents and elder siblings had been slaves on the Madison Parish plantation. Orphaned by age 7, Walker was married and then widowed by the time she was 20.
Seeking more opportunities for herself and her young daughter, Walker moved to St. Louis where she began experimenting with home remedies to treat scalp diseases. Due to a widespread lack of indoor plumbing and infrequent bathing, many people at the time, including Walker, suffered from scalp diseases and hair loss. Over time, she developed her own line of hair products especially designed to meet the needs of black women and founded the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.
To promote her hair products, she embarked on a sales drive throughout the South, holding demonstrations and selling her goods door to door. In 1908, she opened a college in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to train “hair culturists.” Within two years, she moved to Indianapolis to set up her national headquarters and began training other African American women in setting up their own businesses, often as licensed Walker Agents selling her line of hair care products. At its peak, her company employed over 3,000 people.
Walker was active in the social and political issues of the day, including joining leaders of the NAACP in their efforts to make lynching a federal crime. She also made many financial contributions to help support African American schools, organizations, orphanages, and retirement homes, among them the largest contribution to preserve the Washington, DC home of the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
By the time of her death at age 51, this pioneering businesswoman had become the first American woman to become a self-made millionaire. Well-known for both her diligence and perseverance, Walker once stated, “There is no royal flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it – for if I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard.”
“As it appears in …. “
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~~Madam C.J. Walker in the National Archives~~
~~Uploaded on Feb 18, 2011~~
Madam C.J. Walker, one of the great American entrepreneurs of the early 20th century, was born to former slaves and grew up in destitution. In this Inside the Vaults video short, her great-great granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles, tells Madam Walker’s story with help from documents in the National Archives.
We ALL are ONE!!
It Is What It Is 