#OnThisDay in National Historic Landmark History, December 23: Happy 147th Birthday, MADAM C.J. WALKER!!! Widely recognized as Americas first self-made millionairess, Walker stands out as a brilliant marketer who traveled extensively throughout the United States, Central America and the Caribbean to build her enormous cosmetics business. Madam C.J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove in the Louisiana Delta in 1867. Orphaned by the age of seven, she lived for a time with her married sister. At ten, she moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi and at fourteen she married Moses McWilliams, who was killed in a race riot six years later. She worked as a washerwoman throughout her youth and moved to St. Louis from Mississippi when she was 20 years old. Through years of experimentation, she created a chemical formula useful to African-American women for hair care and styling. Beginning her business with door to door sales, Walker soon began training her own salespeople, known as Walker Agents and concentrated on keeping up with growing manufacturing demands. In 1910, she established a factory in Indianapolis. By 1915, the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company employed over 3,000 people and was the largest black-owned business in the United States. In honor of Madam Walker, we feature two NHLs closely associated with her remarkable life and career, Villa Lewaro, her palatial home overlooking the Hudson River in New York, and the Madam C.J. Walker Building, the national headquarters and manufacturing site for her beauty product operations. Villa Lewaro, nearly an exact replica of early Italian Renaissance style palaces, was designed by Vertner Tandy, New Yorks first licensed black architect. It is surrounded by lavish Italian style gardens that were also designed by Tandy. Walker built Villa Lewaro as an example for Black Americans to see what could be accomplished, no matter what their background. She hosted intellectuals of all races to meet and debate at Villa Lewaro. She also engaged in several philanthropies, donating large sums to both Booker T. Washingtons Tuskegee Institute and the Palmer Memorial Institute. Villa Lewaro is currently the focus of a National Treasures Project of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The mansion stands today as a reminder of Walkers considerable accomplishments. The Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company, built in 1927, was the hub of the beauty industry initiated and developed by Madam C.J. Walker, opening the field of cosmetology as a new and lucrative industry for Black women. For years, the Walker Company was the most successful Black business in the United States. The Walker Company also served as a community cultural center, housing a ballroom and theater (recently restored and reopened.) The Walker Theater is one of the few remaining examples of Africanized architecture popularized in the 1920s and 30s. See also: savingplaces.org/treasures/villa-lewaro-madam-c-j-walker-estate#.VJmTpV4AEB https://facebook/WalkerTheatre
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 17:15:00 +0000
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