The Black Hair-Care Empire and Feminist Networking: The Transformative Work of Madam C. J. Walker

How did an African American hair-care entrepreneur capitalize on and empower women of her race at the same time? How was it possible for Madam C. J. Walker, a former slave’s daughter, and a washerwoman named Sarah Breedlove, to transform her apolitical profit-making business activities into the catalyst for black women’s feminist empowerment? Why did hair, the part of our body which has nothing to do with gender, become associated with feminism? While previous research on Madame Walker has been focused on her business acumen and unusual success as a self-made African American woman in the male Anglo-Saxon-dominated American business world, this study deals with Madam Walker as a feminist/political networker in Progressive America.

Through an analysis of her great-great granddaughter's biography and an examination of her own words (articles, reports, and interviews ) printed in the black press of her day, this paper explores Madam Walker’s method of mobilizing and networking women around their common concerns by transforming hair from a “natural” gift to a cultural construct. It especially focuses on how Madam Walker’s geographical movements in each stage of her life strengthened her dedication to feminist and political causes. This research on Madam Walker’s apolitical networking activities as part of her political ambition adds a new aspect to the emergence of black women’s activism in early twentieth-century America.