Business & Entrepreneurship

Madam C.J. Walker

Born December 23, 1867 · Delta, Louisiana · Joined the Ancestors May 25, 1919

Born to parents who had been enslaved, Sarah Breedlove became Madam C.J. Walker and built a beauty empire that made her the first self-made female millionaire in American history.

Known For

First self-made female millionaire

Built

Hair care empire

Legacy

Philanthropy and economic empowerment

Sarah Breedlove was born on a plantation in Delta, Louisiana to parents who had been enslaved. Orphaned at seven, married at 14, and widowed at 20, she supported herself as a washerwoman earning $1.50 a day while suffering from a scalp condition that caused hair loss.

She developed a line of hair care products for Black women and began selling them door-to-door. Through sheer determination, marketing genius, and an army of sales agents she called "Walker Agents," she built the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company into a national empire.

Walker became the first self-made female millionaire in America and used her wealth to fund scholarships, donate to the NAACP and other civil rights organizations, and build Harlem's social and cultural life. She proved that Black women could build generational wealth on their own terms.