Madam C.J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove) was a Black American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and social activist. She is noted as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the Guinness Book of World Records. Though other women might have been the first, their wealth is not as well-documented. Born a free woman two years after the Civil War in Delta, Louisiana in 1867, Sarah Breedlove emerged to be known as Madam C.J. Walker and created a business selling hair care and beauty products specifically for the Black community. By 1917, Walker and her company had trained 20,000 female sales agents who visited homes around the US and the Caribbean offering Walker’s products that were packaged in tin containers carrying Madam C.J.’s image on them. Walker showed Black women how to budget their resources, build their own businesses, and become financially independent. She even organized her agents into what became the National Beauty Culturists and Benevolent Association of Madam C. J. Walker Agents; one of America’s first \ national gatherings of female entrepreneurs.
The Joy Trip Project celebrates the enduring legacy of Black American History. The Unhidden Minute is part of the Unhidden Podcast Project supported through a National Geographic Explorer Grant from the National Geographic Society, with the cooperation of the National Park Service. This series elevates the untold stories of Black American historical figures, events and cultural contributions.
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Madam C.J. Walker