Category Archives: Madame Walker
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
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
1945 Madam Walker Annual Yearbook
This afternoon as I was looking through my files I came across this 1945 Madam Walker Annual Yearbook. Each year the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company published an almanac with information for its thousands of sales agents. 1945 Walker … Continue reading
A’Lelia Walker’s Paisley Coat featured in “Notorious and Notable Women”
In 2010 the Museum of the City of New York included the late 1920s beaded paisley coat of A’Lelia Walker, Madam C. J. Walker’s daughter, with the clothing of other iconic New York women in its “Notorious and Notable Women” … Continue reading
Madam Walker Doll Collection
Through the years, I’ve collected several Madam Walker dolls. Some truly are works of art created by some of America’s premiere dollmakers. I especially love the hats and the furs. You can tell they’re made with love.
