Category Archives: A’Lelia Bundles
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
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
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
A’Lelia Walker’s Sterling Silver Flask
Now that I’m into the serious writing phase of my new biography of A’Lelia Walker (1885-1931), my great-grandmother and the only daughter of entrepreneur and philanthropist Madam C. J. Walker, I’ll be posting more stories about the discoveries I’ve been … 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
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/A'Lelia Walker Family Archives 