Walker, Madame C. J. (1867–1919)

African-American entrepreneur. Name variations: Sarah Walker; Sarah Breedlove McWilliams Walker; Sarah Breedlove McWilliams. Born Sarah Breedlove on Dec 23, 1867, on a cotton plantation in Delta, Louisiana; died at the mansion she built in Irvington, New York, May 25, 1919; dau. of Owen Breedlove and Minerva Breedlove (field hands and former slaves); m. Moses (Jeff) McWilliams (laborer), 1881 (died 1887); m. John Davis, c. 1890 (div. c. 1903); m. Charles J. Walker (journalist), Jan 4, 1906 (div. 1912); children: (1st m.) Lelia McWilliams, later A'Lelia Walker (b. 1885).

Laundress and daughter of former slaves, who invented hair-care products for black women which she turned into a multimillion-dollar business; was orphaned at 7 during a yellow fever epidemic; moved to Vicksburg with her sister when she was 10 (1877); at 14, married Moses McWilliams (1881), who died in an accident (1887); with infant daughter, moved to St. Louis where she supported herself as a laundress and attended night school; managed to send her daughter to college after years of labor over a washtub; developed a formula to straighten hair, targeted to black female customers (1905); embarked on 18-month sales trip to 9 states, including New York, speaking in churches, Masonic and public halls to promote her product; established the headquarters of the Madame C. J. Walker Manufacturing Co. in Pittsburgh, to operate the mail-order business more efficiently (1908); with daughter, opened a training center for Walker agents in Pittsburgh and called it Lelia College; established a manufacturing plant in Indianapolis (1910); expanded operations to New York City (1913); became a speaker not only for her products, but for her race and gender; also worked to end lynching; as one of the greatest capitalists in America, amassed a personal fortune, contributing to various black causes, from education to social protest.

See also A'Lelia Perry Bundles, Madame C. J. Walker (Chelsea House, 1991) and On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker (Scribner, 2001); and Women in World History.