I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I
was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And
from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and
preparations. I have built my own factory on my own ground.
Sarah Breedlove
Walker was born on December 23, 1867.
Her family was poor and lived in Delta
Louisiana. She was the fifth
child and the first free born. They were farmers and she received very little
education. When her parents died she lived with a sister and brother in law but
she left their home to get a job when she was 14. When she was nineteen Sarah was a widow with a young daughter
to support. In St. Louis she worked
in a hotel as washerwoman for $1.50 a day and she
attended public night school. In 1906, Sarah married Denver newspaperman
Charles Joseph Walker .
Just before
World War One Sarah invented a hot iron
comb to straighten hair. She also invented
an ointment to add softness and
shine. It was an important because blacks could now straighten hair without
danger. Sarah made up batches of her pomade in a tub, then packed the mixture
in jars and sold them to customers. She developed a variety of products to serve a range of hair care needs.
She sold her pomade, hair growing tonic, strengtheners,
hot combs, toiletries, fragrances, and facial treatments door to door.
Later on she organized agents in "Walker Clubs” and opened a
shop. She trained assistants and added
mail-order sales. She opened a beauty school that taught the Walker Method
of hair straightening and hair growing.
In 1910 she moved the business to Indianapolis and built her first factory. By
1917, Sarah Walker was employing 3,000 workers in America's largest black-owned
business and she made money. She became a social leader among the black middle
class and opened Lelia College, a hair
care laboratory, and a chain of beauty salons in Harlem.
Sarah Walker owned a villa and lived near Rockfeller and Gould and rode a chauffeur driven
automobile. Italian artist Enrico Caruso
was her guest at villa Lewaro. She was a very generous woman who largely donated to charities and offered
scholarships. She died from on May 24,
1919. Her personal fortune
was estimated at between $600,000 and $700,000. She was the first American
woman to become a self-made millionaire.
Visions of Beauty is a book about the life of a passionate pioneer known by many as Madame C.J. Walker.
