African American History Project

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African American History Project





Madame C.J. Walker
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Introduction
Madame C.J. Walker was born on December 23,
1867. Ms. Walker grew up poor. But she became
the first female African- American millionaire
through her own efforts. She invented many hair
care products for black women, including a hair
growing formula. Before her death in 1919 she was
a millionaire, one of the most successful
business executives in the early half of the
twentieth century
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Backround

Ms. Walker was born in 1867 on the shores of
the Mississippi River in northeast Louisiana.
She was named Sarah Breedlove. Her mother and
her father both died before she turned eight. She
had only a limited formal education. She was
married to Mr. McWilliams at fourteen, "to get a
home and had a daughter. Sarahs husband died
and she and her daughter moved from Vicksburg to
St. Louis, Missouri. For eighteen years, from
1887-1905, she was able to supported herself and
her daughter by work as a washerwoman, earning as
little as 1.50 per day.
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During the 1890s, Sarah began to lose her hair.
She tried many homemade remedies and store-bought
products In 1905 Sarah moved to Denver and
married her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker,
a St. Louis newspaperman. She changed her name to
"Madam" C. J. Walker, and started her own
business and began selling Madam Walker's
Wonderful Hair Grower, a scalp conditioning and
healing formula door-to-door. By early 1910, she
had moved in Indianapolis and built a factory,
hair and manicure salon and a training school. In
1913, she expanded her business to Central
America and the Caribbean. Walker moved to New
York in 1916 and became involved in social and
political life. Walker became known as the
wealthiest African-American woman of her time.
She fought against racial discrimination and used
her money to support civic, educational, and
social agencies to help her fellow
African-Americans.
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Accomplishments
Ms. Walker constantly made headlines with both
her business and her social activities. Her
personal possessions amounted to a value of a
million dollars and included many real estate
holdings. In 1914 she moved to New York and built
a 90,000 townhouse at 108-110 West 136th Street
.
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Obstacles

• Madame C.J. Walker was a black woman. Ms.
  Walker had to face discrimination and racism as
  not only an African-American, but as a woman.
  She also overcame great poverty and being
  orphaned at a very young age.
•  .

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Tributes

• The first biography of Madame C.J. Walker, On Her
  Ground The Life and Times of Madame C.J.
  Walker, was written by A'Lelia Bundles. She was
  Madam Walker's great-great-granddaughter.
• On January 28, 1998 the United States Postal
  Service issued the Madam C. J. Walker
  Commemorative stamp, the 21st in the Black
  Heritage Series, at a first-day-of-issue ceremony
  at the Madame Walker Theatre Center in
  Indianapolis.

• The Madame Walker Theatre Center was built in
  1927. It is a National Historic Landmark and
  contains a 350-person ballroom, often used for
  private celebrations and the 944 seat theatre for
  performances. Its mission is to nurture and
  celebrate the arts from an African-American
  perspective.

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Conclusion
"I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of
the South. From there I was promoted to the
washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook
kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into
the business of manufacturing hair goods and
preparations....I have built my own factory on my
own ground. These are the words of a famous
black American woman. She believed her success
came from perseverance, hard work, faith in
herself and in God, "honest business dealings"
and quality products. "There is no royal
flower-strewn path to success," she once said.
"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."
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Resources

• I got my information at
• www.princeton.edu
• www.madamecjwalker.com
• http//inventors.about.com
• www.historyswomen.com