Category Archives: Madam Walker
Happy 144th Birthday, Madam C. J. Walker!
Sarah Breedlove–who later would become known to the world as Madam C. J. Walker–was born on December 23, 1867, just two days before Christmas. The year had been a particularly difficult one for her parents, Owen and Minerva Anderson Breedlove, who struggled to farm … Continue reading
Madam Walker and the Doctors Dumas of Natchez
Combine clues in a faded letter from November 1916 with the algorithms of Facebook and the distance across the decades evaporates. Finding descendants and relatives of people who knew my great-great-grandmother, Madam C. J. Walker, and her daughter, A’Lelia Walker, … Continue reading
Celebrating Madam Walker’s Legacy: A Walker Family Perspective
One of my earliest memories of my great-great-grandmother’s existence is seeing her monogram on the silverware we used everyday. “CJW” for “C. J. Walker,” the name Sarah Breedlove McWilliams adopted after marrying her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker. I grew … Continue reading
Madam Walker’s 1917 Convention: Entrepreneurship & Protest Politics
On August 31, 1917, Madam C. J. Walker hosted the first national convention of her Walker “beauty culturists” at Philadelphia’s Union Baptist Church. More than 200 women from all over the United States gathered to learn about sales, marketing and … Continue reading
A’Lelia Walker’s Grand Harlem Funeral: August 1931
After a day of champagne, lobster and laughter with friends, A’Lelia Walker–my great-grandmother and daughter of entrepreneur, Madam C. J. Walker–died in a cottage near the beach in Long Branch, New Jersey. Her funeral–with music, poetry and great oratory–was as grand … Continue reading
Faith Ringgold’s “The Sunflowers Quilting Bee at Arles” and Madam C. J. Walker
Between friendship links on Facebook and research on Ancestry.com (which I’ve decided is Facebook for the dearly departed), I’ve been able to make connections and conduct a level of intimate research for my new book about my great-grandmother, A’Lelia Walker, that I … Continue reading
Woodlawn Cemetery–Burial Place of Madam Walker–Designated National Historic Landmark
June 30, 2011: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that The Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx–where enterpreneur Madam C. J. Walker and her Harlem Renaissance arts patron daughter, A’Lelia Walker, are buried–has been designated a National Historic Landmark, … Continue reading
Lyric Tenor Roland Hayes’s January 1924 Chicago Performance
I learned to read music on a Chickering baby grand piano that had belonged to my great-grandmother, A’Lelia Walker, but it really was my mother, A’Lelia Mae Perry Bundles, and my grandmother, Mae Walker Perry, who had musical talent. As the … Continue reading
June 6, 2011: Happy Birthday A’Lelia Walker!
My great-grandmother and namesake, A’Lelia Walker (1885-1931), loved getting flowers on her birthday! Orchids. Dahlias. Gladiolas. Roses. She had everything else–houses, diamonds, furs, cars–plus great friends, a gregarious spirit and a love of life. Well, almost everything, but you’ll have … Continue reading
