Changes

[[Denver]], [[Colorado]]<br>

[[Denver]], [[Colorado]]<br>

[[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]]

[[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]]

| death_date=May 25, 1916 (aged 48)​

| death_date=May 25, 1919 (aged 51)​

| death_place=Irvington-on-Hudson, Westchester County, [[New York]]​​

| death_place=Irvington-on-Hudson, Westchester County, [[New York]]​​

| spouse=(1) First name missing, McWilliams (married 1881-1887, his death)​

| spouse=(1) First name missing, McWilliams (married 1881-1887, his death)​

Owen and Minerva Breedlove}}​​

Owen and Minerva Breedlove}}​​

​

​

'''Sarah Breedlove Walker''', also known as '''Madame C. J. Walker''' (December 23, 1867 &ndash; May 25, 1916), was the inventor of the formula and method of straightening the hair of her fellow [[African-American]] women. She became one of the first female and the first black millionaires through the sale of her popular products.

'''Sarah Breedlove Walker''', also known as '''Madame C. J. Walker''' (December 23, 1867 &ndash; May 25, 1919), was the inventor of the formula and method of straightening the hair of her fellow [[African-American]] women. She became one of the first female and the first black millionaires through the sale of her popular products.

==Background==

==Background==

In 1905, Walker developed her hair straightening formula, along with a cream for improving complexion. She spent the next year perfecting her line of products in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], where she wed the [[newspaper]]man Charles Joseph Walker. The couple divorced . She hired agents to sell her goods door-to-door but also relied on mail-order sales, and she travelled across the South and the East to establish her cosmetics enterprise. In 1908, she opened a second office managed by her daughter in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]. She then decided to combine the Denver and Pittsburgh offices into one headquarters in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], where she also built a manufacturing plant for her products, 1910. At the height of her career she employed more than three thousand, mostly African Americans, with two thousand employess selling her products. She did an annual business of more than $50,000<ref name=lahist/> (1.3 million in 2020 dollars).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/|title=Inflation Calculator|publisher=usinflationcalculator.com|accessdate=April 23, 2020}}</ref>

In 1905, Walker developed her hair straightening formula, along with a cream for improving complexion. She spent the next year perfecting her line of products in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], where she wed the [[newspaper]]man Charles Joseph Walker. The couple divorced . She hired agents to sell her goods door-to-door but also relied on mail-order sales, and she travelled across the South and the East to establish her cosmetics enterprise. In 1908, she opened a second office managed by her daughter in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]. She then decided to combine the Denver and Pittsburgh offices into one headquarters in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], where she also built a manufacturing plant for her products, 1910. At the height of her career she employed more than three thousand, mostly African Americans, with two thousand employess selling her products. She did an annual business of more than $50,000<ref name=lahist/> (1.3 million in 2020 dollars).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/|title=Inflation Calculator|publisher=usinflationcalculator.com|accessdate=April 23, 2020}}</ref>

She was a large donor to the then newly-established [[civil rights]] advocacy group, the [[NAACP|National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]]. She helped in the establishment of houses for the aged in St. Louis and Indianapolis. She organized a black [[YMCA]] in Indianapolis. She funded scholarships for women at the historically black Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, [[Alabama]], and the Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia in Guilford County, [[North Carolina]]. Her bequests established industrial and mission schools in West Africa. As her health deteriorated, Walker ignored her physician's warnings that her heavy schedule was a threat to her health. Nevertheless,  Walker herself continued to oversee the marketing and distribution of her products until she died in 1916 from chronic nephritis at her lavish country estate, “Villa Lewaro,” in Irvington-on-Hudson in [[suburb]]an Westchester County, [[New York]], which had been a national gathering place for African Americans.<ref name=lahist/>

She was a large donor to the then newly-established [[civil rights]] advocacy group, the [[NAACP|National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]]. She helped in the establishment of houses for the aged in St. Louis and Indianapolis. She organized a black [[YMCA]] in Indianapolis. She funded scholarships for women at the historically black Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, [[Alabama]], and the Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia in Guilford County, [[North Carolina]]. Her bequests established industrial and mission schools in West Africa. As her health deteriorated, Walker ignored her physician's warnings that her heavy schedule was a threat to her health. Nevertheless,  Walker herself continued to oversee the marketing and distribution of her products until she died in 1919 from chronic nephritis at her lavish country estate, “Villa Lewaro,” in Irvington-on-Hudson in [[suburb]]an Westchester County, [[New York]], which had been a national gathering place for African Americans.<ref name=lahist/>

==References==

==References==