Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919), an American businesswoman, was the first self-made Black American millionaire – and the first American woman too of any race according to the “Guinness Book of World Records”. She sold hair care products to black women, most notably the hot comb, which made straightened hair common among black women in the early 1900s.
She did not invent the hot comb. It had been invented in Paris in the 1800s at a time when Egyptian hairstyles were in fashion. Sears was already selling them to white women in America in the 1880s. But it was Walker who sold them to black women as an easy way to straighten their hair (though even she first used it to help hair grow rather than to straighten it).
She was born Sarah Breedlove in Louisiana, across the river from Vicksburg, two years after the slaves were freed. Times were hard: yellow fever killed her parents, the Klan burned down her school, by age ten she was working picking cotton, by age 20 her husband was dead and she had a baby girl to take care of (A’Lelia Walker, who later became a figure of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s).
She moved to St Louis where her brother lived and worked as a washerwoman. As little money as she made, she still saved some of it to give her daughter the education she never had.
Then her hair began falling out. She tried all kinds of hair care products to make her hair grow back, but none of them worked. Some of them even made it worse!
In 1904 at the St Louis world’s fair she saw Margaret Washington, the wife of Booker T. Washington. Her hair was so thick and healthy! She wanted hair just like that.
That night she prayed, asking God to stop her hair from falling out. Then she had a dream: she was in Africa and a man was showing her the things she needed to make something that would help her hair to grow back.
That is how she tells it. Some say she had a pharmacist tell her what was in the hair grower of Annie Malone, a forerunner of Walker’s. At the time Walker was selling Malone’s hair care products door to door. She later modelled her company on Malone’s. (Some say Malone was the first black millionaire.)
In any case she moved to Denver soon after her brother died to be near his family. She spent nights working on her hair growing formula until she got it right. It came out in 1905. She called it Wonderful Hair Grower. It proved to be such a hit that other products soon followed and she started hiring saleswomen, training them in the use of her products.
The rest is history: in time she built a factory in Indianapolis and moved to Harlem.
Her name comes from her third husband, newspaperman Charles J. Walker, her husband at the time she went into business.
See also:
- black women’s hair: a brief history: 1900-1965
- Booker T Washington
- Other black businesswomen:
- Harlem
- Cynda Williams: Harlem Blues
I’m so proud of Madame CJ Walker’s accomplishments. She’s an inspiration to all entrepreneurs.
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Did she not also develop a bleaching cream??
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J,
Are you trying to imply that bleaching cream was specifically made to make some one lighter?
You have to understand that Black women (any color)have a tendency to scar easily from acme, the color on you neck changes during and after pregnancy, so before any of the products we have now in makeup, there was a need to try to have a method to get that unblemished look. For some women it made the skin worst and what women did was not the same as whatever Micheal Jackson or that baseball player did.
Also there were not a variety of colors in pressed powder, so Black women had a tendency to look ghostly at times, even light skinned ones. It took me years to find a match, so I never wore foundation.
I don’t know if there are any black people who own a cosmetic business anymore. We Black women still have makeup issues.
What I wish, is that sunscreen came in color. Medication for Hypertension make it easier to get sun poisoning no matter your color. So I look ghostly wearing SP35.
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This is definitly an inspirational story for all entrepeneurs like laroma said and others.
Lets face it, with this finacial crisis, I dont know about you all, but, my eyeballs are tight with the struggle.Everyday seems like slugging through the mud, looking for some kind of forward motion.
Seeing how much this woman had to struggle in her life can only humble me to not feel so bad about my own situation. She is a marvelous example that one just has to keep on fighting and hit the trench one more day, and have a focus on what you are aiming for.
Seeing the struggle of the people in Haiti and now Chile also makes me feel I should be thankful to just have what I have and can hustle for work everyday. Haiti really took a hard hit.
But this woman is remarkable.
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WIth regard to:
“Are you trying to imply that bleaching cream was specifically made to make some one lighter?”
Yes (in a one word answer)
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“She reminds me of Oprah another black woman that made herself a great success.”
Yes. and at a time in history when there was so much racial strife in U.S. I sure it wasn’t easy. But she persevered.
It’s pretty amazing that this Black woman, Madam Walker, had the smarts to create and build an EMPIRE, that has set the tone to what is so prevalent today to Black women AND is also a HUGH moneymaker – Black Hair Care.
A truly amazing story, amazing!
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Thanks for this post Abagond, especially for some info I hadn’t heard about her before. Her real name, for instance, makes the name of a family in Toni Morrison’s first novel doubly ironic.
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With all due respect to Madam C.J. Walker and her success, she was not the first Black female millionaire. Her predecessor and former employer Annie Malone is the rightful owner of that title. Mrs. Malone created Poro Hair Care products that were sold nationwide and in South America. The first Poro College was opened in St. Louis in the early 1900s where Mrs. Malone trained thousands of women in her patented hair care technique. The College housed not only students but also a hotel where Black dignitaries and celebrities stayed while visiting the city. Both Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson performed in the theater in the Poro Hotel. Here is a link to a site for more information: http://www.anniemalone.com/annie-turnbo-malone.html
The Annie Malone Children’s Home stands today because of the generosity of Mrs. Malone. I think it is worth noting that despite the rivalry, these Black women served their community proudly and passionately.
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