MADAME C J WALKER 1867 1919 ENTREPRENEUR AND PHILANTHROPIST WALKER MADAME C J 1867 1919 BUSINESS/COMMERCE CIVIL RIGHTS/EQUALITY AFRICAN AMERICANS AMERICAN CULTURE ECONOMY AND LABOR MADAME WALKER SARAH BREEDLOVE WAS BORN NEAR DELTA LOUISIANA INTO A FAMILY OF SHARECROPPERS AS A CHILD SHE WORKED IN THE COTTON FIELDS AT AGE 14 SHE MARRIED AND FOUR YEARS LATER SHE GAVE BIRTH TO A DAUGHTER A'LEILA BY THE TIME BREEDLOVE WAS 20 YEARS OLD HER HUSBAND HAD DIED APPARENTLY KILLED BY A LYNCH MOB SHE MOVED TO ST LOUIS AND WORKED AS A COOK AND LAUNDRESS FOR THE NEXT 17 YEARS BY 1905 SHE HAD DEVELOPED A HAIR CONDITIONER TREATMENT FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN HAIR SHE OPENED A HAIR PREPARATIONS COMPANY WHICH SHE OPERATED OUT OF HER ATTIC IN 1906 SHE MARRIED JOURNALIST C J WALKER AND NAMED HER COMPANY MADAME C J WALKER MANUFACTURING COMPANY AT ITS PEAK HER COMPANY EMPLOYED SOME 3000 PEOPLE WITH MORE THAN 25000 AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AS SALES AGENTS IN 1908 SHE MOVED TO PITTSBURGH WHERE SHE FOUNDED LEILA COLLEGE BY 1910 WALKER HAD ESTABLISHED BEAUTY PARLORS PRODUCTION FACILITIES AND LABORATORIES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES AND IN THE CARIBBEAN AND SOUTH AMERICA SHE BECAME ONE OF THE FIRST FEMALE AFRICAN AMERICAN MILLIONAIRES UNTIL HER DEATH WALKER WAS A GENEROUS SUPPORTER TO AFRICAN AMERICAN CAUSES PARTICULARLY SCHOOLS AND EQUAL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
