Born near Delta, Louisiana on December 23, 1867 Walker worked as a washerwoman for some years, and during that time began experimenting at home with various hair dressings. In 1905 she developed a formula for creating a smooth, shiny coiffure for African-American women. Walker organized agents to sell her hair treatment door-to-door and in 1910 transferred her business--by then the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Co.--to Indianapolis, Indiana. Her company at its peak employed some 3,000 people, many of them "Walker agents"--saleswomen dressed in long black skirts and white blouses who became familiar figures in the black communities of the United States and the Caribbean. Walker was president and sole proprietor of her company, and she soon became one of the best known figures in America.

*posted November 13-November 18, 2005