Why is madam c.j. walker important

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Selected Bibliography: M Madam C. Walker Papers, Indiana Historical Society. Lewis, David Levering. When Harlem was in Vogue. New York: Vintage Books, Donate Your gift helps support the ongoing, mission-driven endeavors that are important to all of us and to the future of our great state.

Ernie Pyle Journalist Learn More. Steele Artist Learn More. Jim Davis Cartoonist Learn More. Cole Porter Songwriter Learn More. Now that Reconstruction, too, was dead in the South, Sarah moved north to St.

In , Sarah tried marrying again, but her second husband, John Davis, was less than reliable, and he was unfaithful. At 35, her life remained anything but certain. Who is going to take care of your little girl? As a result, Sarah and many other women were going bald because they washed their hair so infrequently, leaving it vulnerable to environmental hazards such as pollution, bacteria and lice. Louis Clarion. A little context and review: Along the indelible color line that court cases like Plessy v.

Ferguson drew, blacks in turn-of-the-century America were excluded from most trade unions and denied bank capital, resulting in trapped lives as sharecroppers or menial, low-wage earners.

One of the only ways out, as my colleague Nancy Koehn and others reveal in their study of Walker, was to start a business in a market segmented by Jim Crow. Hair care and cosmetics fit the bill. The start-up costs were low. Walker Laboratories to manufacture cosmetics and train sales beauticians.

Her business acumen led her to be one of the first American women to become a self-made millionaire. She was also known for her philanthropic endeavors, including a donation toward the construction of an Indianapolis YMCA in Her parents, Owen and Minerva, were enslaved and recently freed, and Sarah, who was their fifth child, was the first in her family to be free-born.

Minerva died in and Owen passed away the following year, both due to unknown causes, leaving Sarah an orphan at the age of seven. After her parents' passing, Sarah was sent to live with her sister, Louvinia, and her brother-in-law. The three moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, in , where Sarah picked cotton and was likely employed doing household work, although no documentation exists verifying her employment at the time. At age 14, to escape both her oppressive working environment and the frequent mistreatment she endured at the hands of her brother-in-law, Sarah married a man named Moses McWilliams.

On June 6, , Sarah gave birth to a daughter, A'Lelia. Louis, where Sarah's brothers had established themselves as barbers. She also attended public night school whenever she could. While in St. Louis, Breedlove met husband Charles J. Walker, who worked in advertising and would later help promote her hair care business. During the s, Sarah developed a scalp disorder that caused her to lose much of her hair, and she began to experiment with both home remedies and store-bought hair care treatments in an attempt to improve her condition.

Walker: Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Social Activist official website. Accessed October 10, National Parks Service, U. Department of the Interior. Walker and J. May 26, How to Cite this page. Additional Resources. Books: Hobkirk, Lori. Related Biographies. Abrams is now one of the most prominent African American female politicians in the United States. Abigail Adams was an early advocate for women's rights. A progressive social reformer and activist, Jane Addams was on the frontline of the settlement house movement and was the first American woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.