Madam C. J. Walker: Building a Business Empire
Penny Colman
- Orphaned
- at
- an
- early
- age,
- Madam
- C.
- J.
- Walker,
- who
- was
- born
- Sarah
- Breedlove,
- told
- people,
- "I
- had
- to
- make
- my
- own
- living
- and
- my
- own
- opportunity!
- But
- I
- made
- it!"
- A
- washerwoman
- who
- turned
- herself
- into
- a
- powerhouse,
- Madam
- revolutionized
- the
- business
- of
- hair-care
- products
- for
- black
- women.
- As
- her
- business
- grew,
- she
- moved
- from
- Denver
- to
- Pittsburgh
- and
- then
- to
- Indianapolis,
- Indiana,
- where
- she
- established
- a
- beauty
- school,
- a
- laboratory,
- and
- a
- factory
- where
- her
- products
- were
- developed
- and
- made.
- In
- 1913
- her
- daughter
- A'Lelia
- opened
- a
- beauty
- salon
- in
- a
- townhouse
- in
- Harlem,
- a
- section
- of
- New
- York
- City.
- Madam
- soon
- moved
- there
- because,
- she
- said,
- "There
- is
- so
- much
- joy
- living
- in
- New
- York."
- In
- 1918,
- she
- moved
- into
- a
- thirty-room
- mansion
- she
- had
- built
- in
- a
- town
- not
- far
- from
- New
- York.
- A
- year
- later
- she
- died
- at
- the
- age
- of
- fifty-one
- years.
- Her
- last
- words
- were,
- "I
- want
- to
- live
- to
- help
- my
- race."During
- her
- lifetime,
- Madam
- C.
- J.
- Walker
- had
- made
- lots
- of
- money;
- she
- had
- spent
- some
- of
- it
- on
- fancy
- cars,
- clothes,
- a
- gold-leaved
- grand
- piano
- and
- harp,
- and
- a
- mansion.
- But
- she
- also
- used
- her
- money
- to
- help
- make
- life
- better
- for
- other people.
