Madam C.J. Walker (b. 1867, d. 1919)
Born the daughter of former Louisiana slaves and orphaned at age 7, Walker developed a homemade scalp lotion to stop her hair loss. She then turned her remedy into a business—and a movement.
Walker's line of hair-and-beauty products geared toward blacks tapped into a market ignored by other businesses because of racism. She also used her clout and fortune to advocate for change, pushing for anti-lynching laws and contributing to civil rights causes. She set an example for generations of entrepreneurs in a time when women were still struggling for voting rights and Brown v. Board of Education was a half-century away.
Key takeaway: The era's ingrained racism left a huge part of the population underserved by the market. Walker profited by making them her customers.
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