142: Madam CJ Walker: America's First Female Millionaire

The story of Madam CJ Walker is a true rags-to-riches tale. Sarah Breedlove was born on a cotton plantation just after slavery was abolished in the south. After being orphaned at a young age, she struggled until she finally had an idea - create her own brand of hair care products for black women. Sarah Breedlove became Madam CJ Walker, who had a brand that would last decades, and arguably make her America's first female millionaire.    Follow us on Instagram!  https://www.instagram.com/illequippedhistory/   Join our Facebook group!  https://www.facebook.com/groups/illequippedhistory   Email us!  [email protected]   Check us out on TikTok!  https://www.tiktok.com/@illequipped.histo   Find us on YouTube!  https://www.youtube.com/@Ill-EquippedHistory    Donate to our Patreon!  https://www.patreon.com/illequippedhistory     Sources “Madam C.J. Walker” by A’Lelia Bundles https://www.britannica.com/money/Madam-C-J-Walker   “Madam C.J. Walker”  https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/madam-c-j-walker/   “Self Made: What Happened to Madam C.J. Walker’s Hair-Care Empire?” by Yohana Desta (Mar 23 2020) https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/03/self-made-madam-cj-walker-company-true-story   “How Madam C.J. Walker Invented Her Hair Care Products” by Sara Kettler (Jan 19 2021) https://www.biography.com/inventors/madam-cj-walker-invent-hair-care-products   “The Sharecopper’s Daughter Who Made Black Women Proud of Their Hair” by Hunter Oatman-Stanford (Aug 31 2015) https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/madam-walker/   “Madam C.J. Walker”  https://indianahistory.org/education/education-resources/educator-resources/famous-hoosiers/madam-c-j-walker/   “Madam C.J. Walker” (Jan 23 2024) https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/madam-cj-walker   “Madam Walker, the First Black American Woman to Be a Self-Made Millionaire” by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.  https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/100-amazing-facts/madam-walker-the-first-black-american-woman-to-be-a-self-made-millionaire/   “Madam C.J. Walker” by Debra Michals (2015) https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/madam-cj-walker   “Madam C.J. Walker, the first U.S. self-made female millionaire, gets her own Barbie” by Wynne Davis (Aug 27 2022) https://www.npr.org/2022/08/27/1119699259/madam-c-j-walker-barbie   "Netflix's ‘Self Made’ suffers from self-inflicted wounds” by A’Lelia Bundles (May 12 2020) https://andscape.com/features/netflixs-self-made-suffers-from-self-inflicted-wounds/   “Netflix’s Self Made Makes a Mess Out of Madam C.J. Walker’s Extraordinary Life” by Judy Berman (Mar 18 2020) https://time.com/5805147/self-made-review-madam-cj-walker/ Sound Credits:    Music by music_for_video from Pixabay  https://pixabay.com/music/comedy-%d1%81omedy-21407/   Knock 7x.aif by lth_stp -- https://freesound.org/s/120491/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0