Sarah Breedlove

In the 1800s not many African Americans were considered wealthy. Sarah Breedlove (also known as Madam C.J.

Walker) was an exception. Her skills at advertising her hair product allowed her to become the first female African

American millionaire. Breedlove used her wealth to support African Americans in her community. How did she influence

America?

In the 1800s, advertising became an important part of American consumer life. Industrialization had made it possible to distribute printed materials more efficiently. More people also had extra money to spend, so advertisements became an important way for people to see new products and trends in society. People who effectively used this new form of promotion often succeeded in business. One such person was an African-American woman named Sarah Breedlove, better known as Madame C.J. Walker. Her hair tonic became popular among African-American women around the turn of the century and she became the first African-American female millionaire. Her success was an important symbol, showing the possibility of success and hope for change even though many African-Americans were still being denied basic rights.

Unknown. (n.d.). Madame C.J. Walker. Library of Congress: American Memory, African American Odyssey.

Madame C.J. Walker was one of the wealthiest African-Americans of her time. She used her wealth to purchase this house along the Hudson River, at a time when many African-Americans were struggling against economic, social and political discrimination.

Historic American Buildings Survey. (1987). Madame C. J. Walker's House (Villa Lewaro). Irvington-on-the-Hudson, New York, ca. 1987. Library of Congress: American Memory, African American Odyssey.

This is an advertisement for one of Madame C.J. Walker’s products. Many of her beauty products for African-American women were actually designed to bleach and straighten hair or lighten skin complexions, in other words, to make an African-American woman look more like the European-American ideal of beauty. So, although the success of these products led to Walker’s personal fortune, they also reflected the racism of the time.

Fortune & Peterson. (1920). Madam C.J. Walker - Preparations. Library of Congress: Prints & Photographs.

Walker donated a lot of her money to the African-American community. She was a strong supporter of Booker T. Washington, pictured here, and his Tuskegee Institute. She also supported more radical figures like Marcus Garvey.

Unknown. (ca. 1890). Booker T. Washington (three-quarter length portrait, seated and facing slightly left, holding newspaper). Library of Congress: American Memory, African American Odyssey.

While Walker used the emerging advertising industry to earn a great fortune, no single person made such good use of the growing power of advertising as P.T. Barnum. Barnum first began advertising his sideshow tours of “illustrious Americans” and his American Museum in New York City in the mid 1800s. Later, he created the Barnum Circus. His circus shows were some of the first products to use color posters, like this one, for advertisements. They changed the way America looked at entertainment.

Unknown. (1879). Poster of the Barnum and Bailey Great London Circus. Library of Congress: Exhibitions, John Bull & Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British-American Relations .