As the daughter of newly freed slaves on a Louisiana plantation, Sarah Breedlove's prospects at birth in 1867 foretold grinding poverty and toil. Over time, she graduated from the cotton fields to the washtub, marrying at the age of 14 and giving birth 3 years later to her only child, a daughter. By 1910, however, with the new name Madam C.J. Walker, Breedlove had accrued a sizable fortune and considerable influence. This daughter of adversity was now well known and respected among the nation's African Americans as a savvy entrepreneur with a thriving business based on hair-care products sold by nearly 1,000 female sales agents across the country.
Read the rest of the story of Madame C.J. Walker here.
UPDATE: And check out this web site.
2 comments:
Dear Mr. Wade,
I was delighted to see your posting about Madam Walker and the link to the HBS newsletter about Nancy Koehn's case. I hope your readers will also visit our website at www.madamcjwalker.com.
A'Lelia Bundles
Madam Walker's great-great-granddaughter and biographer
A'Lelia,
It is a fascinating story. Thanks for the web site information. I've put it in the original post.
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