Know
By Jamie Manuel
Have you ever wondered who came up with the
idea of straightening African-American
women’s hair? Well, one woman’s dream
became a reality in the early 1900’s. Madame CJ.
Walker, bom Sarah Breedlove, took it upon herself to
revolutionize hair-care products for African-American
women. At the age of 14, Madame C.J. Walker
worked as a washerwoman and attended school in the
evening in Louisiana. During this time. Walker’s hair
began to fall out. One night she had a dream about a
cure for hair loss. Later, she found the ingredients,
mixed them together and tried the mixture on her hair.
The formula worked on her hair and she began to sell
her new product. Her business expanded and she
moved to Denver, Colorado where she met her hus
band, Charles Walker. Not only did Madame C.J.
Walker gain fame for her hair-care products, but she is
best known for her invention of the pressing comb and
conditioner for staightening hair. In 1910, Walker
established a factory in Indianapolis where she
employed 5,000 African-American women. Walker
was also an active community leader. She gave thou
sands of dollars to the Tuskegee Institute, the NAACP,
and other African-American charities. She also
helped establish the Mary McLeod Bethune School,
now known as Bethune-Cookman College in
Daytona, Florida. Madame C.J. Walker followed her
dream and became America’s first African-American
woman millionaire. When she died in 1919, she left
an estate valued at two million dollars.
Book of Black Heroes-Great Women in the Struggle,1991
What’s
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