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Title
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Walker, Madam C.J. (1867-1919)
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birthday
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1867-12-23
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Birthplace
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Delta, LA
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Death Date
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1919-05-25
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Occupation
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Business owner
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Philanthropist
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Political activist
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Social reform activist
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Biographical Text
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Madam C.J. Walker was a business owner, philanthropist, and activist. She is recorded as the first woman to become a self-made millionaire in the US. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove in Delta, LA. She had one sister and four brothers. Her older siblings and parents were enslaved by Robert W. Burney, making her the first child in her family born into freedom. Both of her parents died in her childhood. At the age of ten, Walker moved to Vicksburg, MI, where she worked as a child domestic servant. She recalled only having three years of education, during Sunday school. In 1888, Walker moved her and her daughter to St Louis. There she worked as a laundress, determined to make enough money for her daughter to earn a formal education. In 1904, Walker started working as a commission agent, selling Annie Turnbo Malone hair products. Through this job, she was able to cultivate insight on the haircare industry, and begin forming her own business. Following her 1906 marriage, she began going by the name of "Madam C.J. Walker," and would go door to door selling her products and sharing her knowledge on black hair styling and maintenance. In 1908 Walker expanded her business to Pittsburgh, PA, where she opened a salon and training programs. The business only continued to grow, and by 1910, Walker had developed her own factory, salon, and beauty school to train her sales agents. Her business provided a many job opportunities for women, employing several thousand women between the years of 1911 and 1919. Walker was not only a model for sales and grooming, but also business building and money management. As Walker's career grew, so did her work in activism. She provided funding to greater serve black communities of Indianapolis, and was intentional with hiring black designers and architects to create her home, Villa Lewaro. Villa Lewaro was intended to serve as a place of inspiration, community, and expansion for black community members. Throughout the growth of her career, Walker always ensured to use her financial gain to contribute towards political and philanthropic interests she found importance in.
Walker married Moses McWilliams in 1882, when she was only fourteen years old. Together they had one daughter, Lelia. McWilliams passed in 1887, and Walker married her second husband, John Davis in 1894. In 1903, she split from him, and three years later married Charles Joseph Walker. Walker passed on May 25, 1919, at age fifty-one from kidney failure and complications of hypertension. She was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
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Contributor
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O'Neill, Iris
