| (1867
- 1919) |
| Inducted: |
1992 |
| Region: |
MidAtlantic |
| Industry: |
Manufacturing
|
|
Madame C.J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove in Delta Louisiana. Her parents were former slaves. They died when she was 7. At 37 she moved to Denver where she worked as a cook for a local druggist and married a former newspaper salesman, C.J. Walker. At the time, her hair was beginning to fall out, a condition fairly common among black women then. She concocted hair conditioners and tested them on herself. When her Walker System seemed to help, she started selling it door-to-door. She was so successful that she set up an office in Pittsburgh, a factory in Indianapolis, and a salon in New York City. She built a sales force of 2,000 mainly black women, many of whom set up their own hairdressing salons. She died in 1919 as the first self-made millionairess. |
