Madame C. J. Walker: December 23, 1867-May 25,1919

 

Madame C.J. Walker Stamp (1998)
Madam C.J. Walker Stamp (1998)

Today, hair care and cosmetics makeup a multibillion-dollar industry. This industry brought success to the first well documented female millionaire in America, named Madame C.J. Walker, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. By the time she passed away on May 25,1919, at the age of 51, in her mansion, “Villa Lewaro” in Irvington, New York, she had a business that had an annual revenue of $500,000 and her New York real estate valued at $700,000.[1]

Arizona Gleam ad (1937)
Arizona Gleam ad (1937)

In 1906, she married her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker, and changed her name to Madame C.J. Walker while residing in Denver Colorado. Her first marriage was to Moses McWilliams at age fourteen. She became a single mother and widow at age twenty when he passed away. She married for the second time to John Davis in 1894. The romantic relationship with Charles Joseph Walker started while she was still married to John. After the two of them divorced she continued to go by the name Madame C.J. Walker.[2]

First Ad in The Statesman (1906)
First Ad in Statesman (1906)


The business endeavors of Madame C.J. Walker began at 2410 Champa Street in Denver Colorado. This location is where she started advertising her hair-care products in the Statesman in May, 1906. In 1904, while in St. Louis, Missouri, she worked as a sales agent for a hair care company ran by Annie Turnbo Pope Malone. She continued to work for her as a remote agent when she relocated to Denver Colorado in 1905, by advertising the products in the Statesman just as she did her own products.[3]

Roberts & Pope Poro Ad (1906)
Roberts & Pope Poro Ad (1906)

At a time when most hair care products contained many chemicals that were harmful for the African American hair texture, she developed products that provided a gentler and more effective hair care treatment for black woman, even those with alopecia, like herself. It is said to have come to her in a dream while residing at 1615 Linden St, St Louis, Missouri; a more reasonable explanation is that the product came to be after experimentation while working as a hairdresser and sales agent for Annie Turnbo Pope Malone.[4]

Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Co. Products
Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Co. Products

 “Madame C.J. Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower” was one of a variety of hair care products in the “Walker System”, which included scalp preparation, lotions, and iron combs. However, she did not invent the hot comb[5]. The Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing company produced over eighteen products that emphasized hair health for the users, including Glossine and Vegetable Shampoo. Her success came from her ability to build rapport and maintain loyal customers by traveling around America with around 25,000 trained sales agents, better known as “beauty culturist”, marketing and promoting via presentations, newspaper advertisements, mail orders and door-to-door sales.[6]

Madame C.J. Walker Products
Madame C.J. Walker Products

The Lelia College of Beauty Culture was named after her daughter, A’Lelia, and opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1908. The school provided professional and financial opportunities to African Americans by training them to become licensed “beauty culturist” who went on to sale the products of the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company. Pittsburgh address 2518 Wylie Ave is the listed location of business that can be found in the 1909 black business directory.[7]

Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Factory (1911)
Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Factory (1911)

The headquarters for Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company opened in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1910. From 640 N West Street products were shipped to Walker’s “Beauty Culturist” throughout America. “She believed in the economic empowerment of African Americans.” Her company allowed black women to serve in executive positions at a time when segregation and discrimination caused heavy racial tensions due to Jim Crow.[8]

 

Hair Preparation Ad
Hair Preparation Ad

In August 1912, Madame C.J. Walker’s speech “I Hope You Will Catch the Inspiration” was delivered to the National Negro Business League at their 13th Annual Convention held in Chicago, Illinois. Through this speech she shared her humble beginnings.  “I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. Then I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations.” Born Sarah Breedlove, to parents, Owen and Minerva, who were former slaves, she was the first one in the family who was not born a slave. She grew up at a time when Reconstruction was failing and her parents became sharecroppers after being emancipated. Then, she was orphaned at age seven. She went from working as a washerwoman in St. Louis for $1.50 per day to having a net worth of over $1M when she died.[9]

 

MCJW Manufacturing Co. 1930s Newspaper Ad
MCJW Manufacturing Co. 1930s Newspaper Ad

Her success in business allowed her to send her daughter, A’Lelia to Knoxville College in Tennessee. Before More than a Pink Cadillac provided us with nine keys to success based on the business model of Mary Kay Ash and Mary Kay Inc., the Key to Beauty Success Happiness was available through the C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company. The company officially ceased operations in 1981. In the aftermath of its end, the legacy continues. The United States Postal Service issued the Madame C.J. Walker Stamp in 1998. The Madame C.J. Walker Barbie was released by Mattel on August 24, 2022. The Netflix Mini-series, Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, starring Octavia Spencer, is loosely based on the book written by her great great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles titled On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker.[10]

Madam C.J. Walker Barbie Doll (2022)
Madam C.J. Walker Barbie Doll (2022)

Works Cited

Bundles, A’Lelia, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker (2001)

Jean-Philippe, McKenzie, “What Self Made Got Right-and Wrong-About Madam C.J. Walker”, Oprah Daily, (Mar. 24, 2020), https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a31484263/madam-cj-walker-facts/ Accessed January 29, 2023

Kelland, Lara and Lindsay Davis. "Madam C.J. Walker House." Clio: Your Guide to History. (April 7, 2020) https://theclio.com/tour/1376/13 Accessed January 29, 2023

Mae, Tara, “Madam C.J. Walker: Beauty Maven, Benevolent Millionaire”, Three Village Historical Society, (Aug. 9, 2022), https://www.tvhs.org/post/madam-c-j-walker-beauty-maven-benevolent-millionaire Accessed January 29, 2023

Mullins, Paul R, “Affluence and Community at the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company”, Black Perspectives, AAIHS, (May 23,2019), https://www.aaihs.org/affluence-and-community-at-the-madam-c-j-walker-manufacturing-company/ Accessed January 29, 2023

Robinson, A'Lelia Walker, The Key to Beauty, Success, Happiness: Mme. C.J. Walker's Products, C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company,1940, https://digital.hagley.org/TC_M1741940#page/1/mode/2up Accessed January 29, 2023

Underwood, Jim, More Than a Pink Cadillac: Mary Kay Inc.’s Nine Leadership Keys to Success. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=81231&site=ehost-live&scope=site Accessed January 29, 2023

Walker, Madam C.J., “I Hope You Will Catch the Inspiration”, 13th Annual Convention of the National Negro Business League, Institutional Church, Chicago IL, (August 23, 1912), https://speakingwhilefemale.co/business-walker/ Accessed January 29, 2023

Walker, Madam C.J., “Early Ad”, The Statesman, (Denver, Colo.: May 25,1906), 13, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46187064/early-ad-by-madam-cj-walker-for-hair/ Accessed January 29, 2023

Walker, Madam C.J., “Roberts & Pope Poro hair treatment Ad”, The Statesman, (Denver, Colo.: May 04,1906), 7, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46186844/ad-by-madam-cj-walker-for-poro/  Accessed January 29, 2023

 

“First self-made millionairess”, Guinness World Records, https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-self-made-millionairess Accessed January 29, 2023

 

“Madam C.J. Walker”, Women on Stamps: Part 2, Smithsonian National Postal Museum, https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/women-on-stamps-part-2-professionals-and-philanthropists-enhancing-lives/madam-cj-walker Accessed January 29, 2023

 

“Madam C.J. Walker”, History Channel, (Oct. 29, 2009), https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/black-history/madame-c-j-walker Accessed January 29, 2023

 

“Madam C,J, Walker Barbie Inspiring Women Doll”, Mattel (2022) https://shop.mattel.com/products/madam-cj-walker-barbie-inspiring-women-doll-hlm19 Accessed January 29, 2023

 

“Madam C.J. Walker Park”, Denver Park Trust, (2020), https://denverparktrust.org/madamcjwalker/ Accessed January 29, 2023

 

“Villa Lewaro (Madam C.J. Walker Estate)”, Irvington, New York, National Trust for Historic Preservation, (1918), https://savingplaces.org/places/villa-lewaro-madam-c-j-walker-estate Accessed January 29, 2023

 

Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, Netflix, (2020)


[1]“First self-made millionairess”, Guinness World Records, https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-self-made-millionairess Accessed January 29, 2023; “Villa Lewaro (Madam C.J. Walker Estate)”, Irvington, New York, National Trust for Historic Preservation, (1918), https://savingplaces.org/places/villa-lewaro-madam-c-j-walker-estate Accessed January 29, 2023

[2] Lara Kelland and Lindsay Davis. "Madam C.J. Walker House." Clio: Your Guide to History. (April 7, 2020) https://theclio.com/tour/1376/13 Accessed January 29, 2023

[3]Madam C.J. Walker, “Roberts & Pope Poro hair treatment Ad”, The Statesman, (Denver, Colo.: May 04,1906), 7, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46186844/ad-by-madam-cj-walker-for-poro/ Accessed January 29, 2023; Madam C.J. Walker, “Early Ad”,, The Statesman, (Denver, Colo.: May 25,1906), 13, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46187064/early-ad-by-madam-cj-walker-for-hair/ Accessed January 29, 2023

[4]Lara Kelland and Lindsay Davis. "Madam C.J. Walker House." Clio: Your Guide to History. (April 7, 2020) https://theclio.com/tour/1376/13 Accessed January 29, 2023

[5] hot comb inventor, Francois Marcel Grateau

[6] Tara Mae, “Madam C.J. Walker: Beauty Maven, Benevolent Millionaire”, Three Village Historical Society, (Aug. 9, 2022), https://www.tvhs.org/post/madam-c-j-walker-beauty-maven-benevolent-millionaire Accessed January 29, 2023; “Madam C.J. Walker”, History Channel, (Oct. 29, 2009), https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/black-history/madame-c-j-walker Accessed January 29, 2023

[7] Found in 1909 business directory by A’Lelia Bundles (great great-granddaughter)

[8]Paul R Mullins, “Affluence and Community at the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company”, Black Perspectives, AAIHS, (May 23,2019), https://www.aaihs.org/affluence-and-community-at-the-madam-c-j-walker-manufacturing-company Accessed January 29, 2023; “Madam C.J. Walker Park”, Denver Park Trust, (2020), https://denverparktrust.org/madamcjwalker/ Accessed January 29, 2023

[9]Madam C.J. Walker, “I Hope You Will Catch the Inspiration”, 13th Annual Convention of the National Negro Business League, Institutional Church, Chicago IL, (August 23, 1912), https://speakingwhilefemale.co/business-walker/ Accessed January 29, 2023; Lauren Antonoff, “Denver Made Madam C.J. Walker-Which the Netflix Series Ignored”, Westword, (April 3, 2020) https://www.westword.com/arts/madam-cj-walker-of-netflix-acclaim-got-her-start-in-denver-11680178 Accessed January 29, 2023

[10]Jim Underwood, More Than a Pink Cadillac: Mary Kay Inc.’s Nine Leadership Keys to Success. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003.https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=81231&site=ehost-live&scope=site  Accessed January 29, 2023; A'Lelia Walker Robinson, The Key to Beauty, Success, Happiness: Mme. C.J. Walker's Products, C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company,1940, https://digital.hagley.org/TC_M1741940#page/1/mode/2up Accessed January 29, 2023; “Madam C.J. Walker”, Women on Stamps: Part 2, Smithsonian National Postal Museum, https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/women-on-stamps-part-2-professionals-and-philanthropists-enhancing-lives/madam-cj-walker Accessed January 29, 2023; “Madam C,J, Walker Barbie Inspiring Women Doll”, Mattel (2022) https://shop.mattel.com/products/madam-cj-walker-barbie-inspiring-women-doll-hlm19 Accessed January 29, 2023; Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, Netflix, (2020); McKenzie Jean-Philippe, “What Self Made Got Right-and Wrong-About Madam C.J. Walker”, Oprah Daily, (Mar. 24, 2020), https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a31484263/madam-cj-walker-facts/ Accessed January 29, 2023; A’Lelia Bundles, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker (2001);

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