Madam C.J. Walker: The First Black Female Millionaire

Born in 19th century rural Louisiana to former slaves, Sarah Breedlove rose to become the first female, African-American, self-made millionaire in the United States.  Known as Madam C.J. Walker, she developed a line of beauty care products for black women.  Walker built a factory, hair salon, mail-order business and a beauty school which trained 20,000 sales agents. Later she became a philanthropist and was active in organizing the NAACP’s Silent Protest Parade in New York in 1917.  She built an elegant estate in Irvington, NY near the home of Jay Gould which still stands today.

Presenter: Rick Feingold teaches American Business History at Bergen Community College and holds an MBA from Penn State University and a B.A.in History from Rutgers University.