Jennifer Majorana
Executive Vice President, Hall of Giants
Thanks to Netflix and Octavia Spencer, millions of Americans encountered the remarkable Madam C.J. Walker. Many viewers walked away from the short series Self Made focused on Walker’s extraordinary rise to wealth. They may have missed the far more important story: what she made possible for others.
Walker was born Sarah Breedlove to formerly enslaved parents in 1867, just two short years after the end of the Civil War. Orphaned as a child, Walker spent years working as a laundress to support herself and her daughter. Nothing about her early life suggested she would change the world. Yet Walker possessed a quality shared by many of the men and women we will celebrate through Hall of Giants.
What set her apart is what sets every great entrepreneur apart. She grasped possibilities that others hadn’t even considered.
Walker’s journey began with a frustrating problem that others could not solve. She struggled with hair loss – and soon became interested in developing products that could help women facing similar challenges. By the early 1900s, she had developed her own line of hair care products, eventually building a company that reached customers across the entire country.
When they speak of her at all, historians emphasize that Walker was America’s first self-made female millionaire. Sometimes, they focus on the racism she faced and overcame. But emphasizing her financial success or her skin color misses the larger significance of her achievement.
Entrepreneurs do more than build businesses. They create ever-expanding opportunities for others.
As Walker’s company grew, she recruited and trained thousands of women to become sales agents. At a time when professional opportunities for women were limited and opportunities for black women were especially scarce, Walker’s organization offered a path to economic independence. Her agents learned how to sell products, manage accounts, speak to customers, and run small businesses of their own. Many earned incomes that gave them greater freedom and stability than they had previously known.
Walker built her company during the era of Jim Crow segregation and at a time when women of any race were not allowed to vote. Recognizing that she was a role model, Walker became one of the most significant black philanthropists of her generation, supporting schools, churches, charitable organizations, and civil rights causes. What she enjoyed most about her wealth was the opportunity to give others the chance to earn their own success. Madam C.J. Walker accepted that wealth was never guaranteed, but she knew – better than most – that anyone can prosper in this country.
That idea sits at the heart of why we are building Hall of Giants.
History is more than a recitation of names, dates, and accomplishments. We do too little to emphasize the qualities that made those accomplishments possible: curiosity, initiative, perseverance, creativity, and the willingness to take responsibility for solving problems. Those are not rare gifts given only to a few. They are qualities that any of us can acquire.
Madam C.J. Walker’s life offers a powerful example of those qualities in action. She transformed adversity into opportunity and built a business by serving customers whom others had neglected. She invested in the success of others, and she used her achievements to improve communities and inspire millions.
Progress is seldom successfully directed from above. In America, progress is driven by individuals who refuse to accept the limits of their circumstances. They see what is missing, and they move to create it; they see what others lack and decide to provide it; they see an obstacle and refuse to stop for it.
These are the qualities we need to remember. They are the qualities the Hall of Giants is being built to celebrate.
As we continue to work to build our permanent location – follow us on social media @HallofGiants to find more stories like Madam C.J. Walker’s.