Women Making History: The Revolutionary Feminist Postcard Art of Helaine Victoria Press

Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919). Businesswoman. Philanthropist. Inventor. Confidence Builder. Born Sarah Breedlove in Delta, LA, she was a laundress until 1905 when she formulated hair and scalp preparations especially for Black women. When she died at 51, she had become the first self-made American woman millionaire. She traveled extensively promoting her products and speaking out on issues affecting women and Blacks. Thousands of Walker agents, nearly all women, sold her “Wonderful Hair Grower” in the U.S., Central America, and the Caribbean. More than 200 agents met in Page 295 →Philadelphia in 1917 to hear Madam speak about “Women’s Duty to Women” at the first convention of the Mme. C. J. Walker Hair Culturists' Union of America. That same summer Mme. Walker was the only woman in a group of Black men who visited the White House to petition President Woodrow Wilson to make lynching a federal crime. Mme. Walker contributed generously to educational and other causes in which she believed, including Mary McLeod Bethune’s Bethune-Cookman College. Madam’s Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y. mansion, ‘Villa Lewaro’, was the site for important meetings of Black leaders. The Walker Co. still is in Indianapolis, manufacturing Madam Walker’s original formulas. As was her wish, the company president has always been a woman.

Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919). Businesswoman. Philanthropist. Inventor. Confidence builder. Born Sarah Breedlove in Delta, LA, she was a laundress until 1905, when she first formulated hair and scalp preparations especially for Black women. When she died, at 51, she had become the first self-made U.S. woman millionaire. She traveled extensively, promoting her products and speaking out on issues affecting women and Blacks. Thousands of Walker agents, nearly all women, sold her "Wonderful Hair Grower" in the U.S., Central America, and the Caribbean. More than 200 agents met in Philadelphia in 1917 to hear Madam speak about "Women's Duty to Women" at the first convention of the Mme. C. J. Walker Hair Culturists' Union of America. That same summer Mme. Walker was the only woman in a group of Black men who visited the White House to petition President Woodrow Wilson to make lynching a federal crime. Mme. Walker contributed generously to educational and other causes, in which she believed, including Mary McLeod Bethune's Bethune-Cookman College. Madam's Irvington-on-Hudson, NY, mansion, "Villa Lewaro," was the site of important meetings of Black leaders. The Walker Co. still is in Indianapolis, manufacturing Madam Walker's original formulas. It was Madam's wish that the company president always be a woman.