Madam CJ Walker Pioneer of Black Cosmetics and hair care

February is Black History Month, a time to remember and reflect on great African American who have helped shape the country.

Feb 2011

February is Black History Month, a time to remember and reflect on great African American who have helped shape the country. One of those who is being honored is Madam C.J. Walker.

Madame C.J. Walker, the first Black female millionaire and an innovator in hair and cosmetics, boasts one of the most recognizable names in Black history.

The woman credited with creating the hot comb was born Sarah Breedlove McWilliams Walker but donned her trademark Madame C.J. moniker.

In all actuality she did not invent the hair-straightening tool but adapted it to have wider teeth making it easier to use on Black hair.

Born to slaves, Walker worked as a washwoman before experimenting and vying for a product that promoted hair growth.

A victim of hair loss herself, Walker developed her “Wonderful Hair Grower” which promoted a healthy scalp reportedly through the use of sulfur.

Her growth ointment, along with a hair oil, scalp treatment and hot comb became known as the "Walker System" used by Black women to straighten their hair.

Walker went on to establish Lelia College in Pittsburgh to train beauticians on using her system and generated enough wealth to become a philanthropist.

Here are a few facts about Madam C. J. Walker.

Madam C.J. Walker was born in 1867 and passed away in 1919.

She was born and named Sarah Breedlove and was one of six children.

Her parents and her older brothers and sisters were slaves at a Louisiana plantation.

She got married at the young age of 14 primarily to escape the abuse she was afflicted with by her brother-in-law who she lived with at the time.

She had her daughter Lelia hen she was 17. Her husband died when she was twenty and she moved to St. Louis to live with her siblings.

She had suffered from hair loss due to a scalp disease and created her own shampoo that contained sulfur which helped hair growth. She began to sell her products and later opened Lelia College which trained “Hair culturists, she then opened her headquarters and built a factory in Pittsburgh.

Madam C. J. Walker was known for helping other black women start and build their own businesses and was very generous with donating money to worthy causes.

Madam Walker is known to be – according to the Guinness Book of Records to be the first woman to became a millionaire by her own work.

Source

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