Madam C. J. Walker
Entrepreneur & Philanthropist
1867–1919 · United States
Built a national beauty enterprise that created economic opportunities for thousands of Black women.
The Full Profile
Madam C. J. Walker, Entrepreneur & Philanthropist, built a national beauty enterprise that created economic opportunities for thousands of Black women. Madam C. J. Walker built a hair-care and cosmetics business into one of the most famous Black-owned enterprises of the early 20th century. Her sales-agent network offered business opportunities to Black women across the country. She also supported civil rights, education, anti-lynching campaigns, and philanthropic causes. Her company trained thousands of Black women as independent sales agents — economic liberation at a time when the alternatives were domestic work and field labor; her mansion, Villa Lewaro, was built deliberately among the estates of Rockefellers and Astors.