America's First Self-Made Female Millionaire, Madame C.J. Walker, Built Her Business In Indiana
By Elizabeth Crozier|Published April 05, 2020
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Elizabeth Crozier
Author
An Illinois transplant who grew up and went to school in Indiana for 22 years, Elizabeth holds a BFA in creative writing and has enjoyed traveling across the country and parts of Europe. She has visited half of the states, as well as parts of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and regularly travels home to the Hoosier State to see friends and family. With more than five years of writing experience, Elizabeth’s articles have been featured on several websites, and her poetry and short stories have been published in multiple literary journals.
America’s first female self-made millionaire made much of her money by building her business right here in Indiana. Madame C.J. Walker is famous for her line of hair grower for African American women’s hair, and her factory in Indy was the pinnacle of her success. Scroll on to learn more.
You can't talk about the history of African American hair care without discussing Madame C.J. Walker and the incredible strides she made toward African American beauty and entrepreneurship.
Her individual story is long, but she is known as America's first self-made female millionaire. Born in 1867, she lived to be 51 years of age and was the first child in her family born into freedom while her other five siblings and parents were slaves.
Walker moved her operation to Indianapolis in 1910 after working as an independent hairdresser and retailer of hair care for a few years. Here, she built a factory while running a mail-order operation out of Denver and a beauty parlor out of Pittsburgh.
Indianapolis was the headquarters for Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company and also the location of one of her houses. Here, she built a factory, beauty school, hair salon, and research laboratory that became the backbone of her business.
Walker trained other women to sell her products and promoted a policy that helped to advance the status of African Americans. She believed that women with good hair could achieve great things.
All of this was taking place at the turn of the century when black people were still largely discriminated against. Lynchings and race riots were common but the voices and charitable works of Madame C.J. Walker as well as her peers, W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, have not been forgotten.
Many of her personal papers are preserved at the Indiana Historical Society, and the factory was renamed the Madame Walker Theatre Center in 1927 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
What else do you know about Madame C. J. Walker and her time in Indy? Share your knowledge with us below in the comments.