Madame C.J. Walker
The fact is that Sarah Breedlove became the first black woman millionaire in the United States because of a bad hair day. The year was 1905, Sarah lived in St. Louis, Missouri, and by bad hair day, we don't mean the frizzies. Sarah's hair was falling out and she prayed to God to save it. But Sarah clearly wasn't one to twiddle her thumbs waiting for divine intervention. Her hairy situation gave her the idea to start a company featuring hair care products. Sarah said the formula for the first product she created-for hair growth-came to her in a dream. Next she invented a new system for straightening black hair which included a hair softener and a special metal heating comb.
Before she began selling her products, Sarah, showing her finesse for marketing, added the Madame to her name so people would know she was married (to Charles J. Walker) and to give her products an extra cachet. Voila, Madame C.J. Walker was born and she boldly hit the streets, taking her inventions door to door. Madame C.J.'s hard work paid off big-time-five years later, she was rich enough to build the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she employeed three thousand people. Clearly, women loved her product.
As sole owner and president of the company, Madame walker managed an expanding empire which included her factory, the Walker College of Hair Culture, a mail-order business, and droves of Walker agents who demonstrated and sold the beauty line in neighborhoods throughout the United States. She was proud to be a black entrepreneur and made a point of hiring black employees.
Excerpted from the book Cool Women with permission of publisher, Girl Press.
Learn More About Madame C.J. Walker
Madame CJ Walker Biography
http://www.madamcjwalker.com/
This site includes pictures of her and her products, a biography, and information on books about her written by her great-niece.
Black Inventors on Madame Walker
http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/madamewalker.html
Read more about Madame C.J. Walker's life and those of other black inventors.
Madame Walker's Homes
http://www.princeton.edu/~mcbrown/display/walker.html
At this site, you can see photographs of the places she lived and learn more about her company.
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