VOICE ONE:
I’M SHIRLEY GRIFFITH.
VOICE TWO:
AND I’M RICH KLEINFELDT WITH THE VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM,PEOPLE IN AMERICA. EVERY WEEK, WE TELL THE STORY OF SOMEONEIMPORTANT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. TODAY WE TELL ABOUTMADAM C. J. WALKER. SHE WAS A BUSINESSWOMAN. SHE WAS THE FIRSTFEMALE AFRICAN- AMERICAN TO BECOME VERY RICH.
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VOICE ONE:
IN THE EARLY NINETEEN-HUNDREDS, LIFE FOR MOST AFRICAN-AMERICANSWAS VERY DIFFICULT. MOBS OF WHITE PEOPLE ATTACKED AND KILLED BLACKPEOPLE. IT WAS LEGAL TO SEPARATE GROUPS OF PEOPLE BY RACE. WOMEN,BOTH BLACK AND WHITE, DID NOT HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AS MEN.
BLACK WOMEN WORKED VERY LONG HOURS FOR LITTLE WAGES. THEY WORKEDMOSTLY AS SERVANTS OR FARM WORKERS. OR THEY WASHED CLOTHES. MADAM C.J. WALKER WORKED AS A WASHERWOMAN FOR TWENTY YEARS. SHE THEN STARTEDHER OWN BUSINESS OF DEVELOPING AND SELLING HAIR-CARE PRODUCTS FORBLACK WOMEN.
MADAM WALKER, HOWEVER, DID MORE THAN BUILD A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS.HER PRODUCTS HELPED WOMEN HAVE A BETTER SENSE OF THEIR OWN BEAUTY.HER BUSINESS ALSO GAVE WORK TO MANY BLACK WOMEN. AND, SHE HELPEDOTHER PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY BLACK ARTISTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS SUPPORTERS.SHE SAID, “MY OBJECT IN LIFE IS NOT SIMPLY TO MAKE MONEY FOR MYSELFOR TO SPEND IT ON MYSELF. I LOVE TO USE A PART OF WHAT I MAKE INTRYING TO HELP OTHERS.”
VOICE TWO:
MADAM C. J. WALKER WAS VERY POOR FOR MOST OF HER LIFE. SHE WASBORN SARAH BREEDLOVE IN THE SOUTHERN STATE OF LOUISIANA INEIGHTEEN-SIXTY-SEVEN. HER PARENTS WERE FORMER SLAVES. THE FAMILYLIVED AND WORKED ON A COTTON FARM ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.COTTON WAS A CROP THAT GREW WELL IN THE RICH, DARK SOIL NEAR THERIVER.
MOST CHILDREN OF SLAVES DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL. THEY HAD TO WORK.BY THE TIME SARAH WAS FIVE YEARS OLD, SHE WAS PICKING COTTON IN THEFIELDS WITH HER FAMILY. SHE ALSO HELPED HER MOTHER AND SISTER EARNMONEY BY WASHING CLOTHES FOR WHITE PEOPLE.
THERE WAS NO WATER OR MACHINE TO WASH CLOTHES IN THEIR HOME. THEWATER FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER WAS TOO DIRTY. SO, THEY USEDRAINWATER. SARAH HELPED HER MOTHER AND SISTER CARRY WATER TO FILLBIG WOODEN CONTAINERS. THEY HEATED THE WATER OVER THE FIRE. THENTHEY RUBBED THE CLOTHES ON FLAT PIECES OF WOOD, SQUEEZED OUT THEWATER AND HUNG EACH PIECE TO DRY. IT WAS HARD WORK. THE WET CLOTHESWERE HEAVY, AND THE SOAP HAD LYE IN IT. LYE IS A STRONG SUBSTANCETHAT CLEANED THE CLOTHES WELL. BUT IT HURT PEOPLE’S SKIN.
VOICE ONE:
WHEN SARAH WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD, HER PARENTS DIED OF THE DISEASEYELLOW FEVER. SHE AND HER SISTER MOVED TO VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI. ATTHE AGE OF FOURTEEN, SARAH MARRIED MOSES MCWILLIAMS. THEY HAD ADAUGHTER AFTER THEY WERE MARRIED FOR THREE YEARS. THEY NAMED THEIRDAUGHTER LELIA. TWO YEARS LATER,MOSES MCWILLIAMS DIED IN ANACCIDENT.
SARAH WAS ALONE WITH HER BABY. SHE DECIDED TO MOVE TO ST. LOUIS,MISSOURI. SHE HAD HEARD THAT WASHERWOMEN EARNED MORE MONEY THERE.SARAH WASHED CLOTHES ALL DAY. AT NIGHT, SHE WENT TO SCHOOL TO GETTHE EDUCATION SHE HAD MISSED AS A CHILD. SHE ALSO MADE SURE THAT HERDAUGHTER LELIA WENT TO SCHOOL. SARAH SAVED ENOUGH MONEY TO SENDLELIA TO COLLEGE.
SARAH BEGAN TO THINK ABOUT HOW SHE WAS GOING TO CONTINUE TO EARNMONEY IN THE FUTURE. WHAT WAS SHE GOING TO DO WHEN SHE GREW OLD ANDHER BACK GREW WEAK?
SHE ALSO WORRIED ABOUT HER HAIR. IT WAS DRY AND BROKEN. HER HAIRWAS FALLING OUT IN SOME PLACES ON HER HEAD. SARAH TRIED DIFFERENTPRODUCTS TO IMPROVE HER HAIR BUT NOTHING WORKED. THEN SHE GOT ANIDEA. IF SHE COULD CREATE A HAIR PRODUCT THAT WORKED FOR HER, SHECOULD START HER OWN BUSINESS.
VOICE TWO:
AT THE AGE OF THIRTY-SEVEN, SARAH INVENTED A MIXTURE THAT HELPEDHER HAIR AND MADE CURLY HAIR STRAIGHT. SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE THATSARAH STUDIED THE HAIR PRODUCT SHE USED AND ADDED HER OWN “SECRET”SUBSTANCE. BUT SARAH SAID SHE INVENTED THE MIXTURE WITH GOD’S HELP.BY SOLVING HER HAIR PROBLEM, SHE HAD FOUND A WAY TO IMPROVE HERLIFE.
SARAH DECIDED TO MOVE WEST TO DENVER, COLORADO. SHE DID NOT WANTTO COMPETE WITH COMPANIES IN ST. LOUIS THAT MADE HAIR-CARE PRODUCTS.FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HER LIFE, SARAH LEFT THE AREA ALONG THEMISSISSIPPI RIVER WHERE SHE WAS BORN.
SARAH FOUND A JOB IN DENVER AS A COOK. SHE COOKED AND WASHEDCLOTHES DURING THE DAY. AT NIGHT SHE WORKED ON HER HAIR PRODUCTS.SHE TESTED THEM ON HERSELF AND ON HER FRIENDS. THE PRODUCTS HELPEDTHEIR HAIR. SARAH BEGAN SELLING HER PRODUCTS FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE.
VOICE ONE:
IN NINETEEN-OH-SIX, SHE MARRIED CHARLES JOSEPH WALKER. HE WAS ANEWSPAPERMAN WHO HAD BECOME HER FRIEND AND ADVISER. FROM THEN ON,SARAH USED THE NAME MADAM C. J. WALKER.
MADAM WALKER ORGANIZED WOMEN TO SELL HER HAIR TREATMENT. SHEESTABLISHED WALKER SCHOOLS OF BEAUTY CULTURE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRYTO TRAIN THE SALESWOMEN. THE SALESWOMEN BECAME KNOWN AS “WALKERAGENTS.” THEY BECAME POPULAR IN BLACK COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT THEUNITED STATES.
MADAM WALKER WORKED HARD AT HER BUSINESS. SHE TRAVELLED TO MANYAMERICAN CITIES TO HELP SELL HER PRODUCTS. SHE ALSO TRAVELLED TO THECARIBBEAN COUNTRIES OF JAMAICA, PANAMA, AND CUBA. HER PRODUCTS HADBECOME POPULAR THERE TOO.
VOICE TWO:
MADAM WALKER’S BUSINESS GREW QUICKLY. IT SOON WAS EMPLOYINGTHREE-THOUSAND PEOPLE. BLACK WOMEN WHO COULD NOT ATTEND HER SCHOOLSCOULD LEARN THE WALKER HAIR CARE METHOD THROUGH A COURSE BY MAIL.HUNDREDS, AND LATER THOUSANDS, OF BLACK WOMEN LEARNED HER HAIR-CAREMETHODS. MADAM WALKER’S PRODUCTS HELPED THESE WOMEN EARN MONEY TOEDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN, BUILD HOMES AND START BUSINESSES.
MADAM WALKER WAS VERY PROUD OF WHAT SHE HAD DONE. SHE SAID THATSHE HAD MADE IT POSSIBLE “FOR MANY COLORED WOMEN TO ABANDON THEWASHTUB FOR MORE PLEASANT AND PROFITABLE OCCUPATIONS.”
VOICE ONE:
IN NINETEEN-OH-EIGHT, MADAM WALKER MOVED HER BUSINESS EAST TOPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA. PITTSBURGH WAS CLOSER TO CITIES ON THEATLANTIC COAST WITH LARGE BLACK POPULATIONS, CITIES SUCH AS NEWYORK, WASHINGTON, D.C., AND BALTIMORE. TWO YEARS LATER, SHEESTABLISHED A LABORATORY AND A FACTORY IN INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.THERE, HER PRODUCTS WERE DEVELOPED AND MADE.
SOME PEOPLE CRITICIZED MADAM WALKER’S PRODUCTS. THEY ACCUSED HEROF STRAIGHTENING BLACK WOMEN’S HAIR TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE WHITEWOMEN’S HAIR. SOME BLACK CLERGYMEN SAID THAT IF BLACK PEOPLE WERESUPPOSED TO HAVE STRAIGHT HAIR, GOD WOULD HAVE GIVEN IT TO THEM. BUTMADAM WALKER SAID HER PURPOSE WAS TO HELP WOMEN HAVE HEALTHY HAIR.SHE ALSO SAID CLEANLINESS WAS IMPORTANT. SHE ESTABLISHED RULES FORCLEANLINESS FOR HER EMPLOYEES. HER RULES LATER LED TO STATE LAWSCOVERING JOBS INVOLVING BEAUTY TREATMENT.
VOICE TWO:
MADAM C. J. WALKER BECAME VERY RICH AND FAMOUS. SHE ENJOYED HERNEW LIFE. SHE ALSO SHARED HER MONEY. SHE BECAME ONE OF THE FEW BLACKPEOPLE AT THE TIME WEALTHY ENOUGH TO GIVE HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY TOHELP PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS. SHE GAVE MONEY TO THE NATIONALASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE, TO CHURCHES ANDTO CULTURAL CENTERS.
MADAM WALKER ALSO SUPPORTED MANY BLACK ARTISTS AND WRITERS.AND,SHE WORKED HARD TO END VIOLATIONS AGAINST THE RIGHTS OF BLACKPEOPLE. IN NINETEEN- SEVENTEEN, SHE WAS PART OF A GROUP THAT WENT TOWASHINGTON, D.C., TO MEET WITH PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON. THE GROUPURGED HIM AND CONGRESS TO MAKE MOB VIOLENCE A FEDERAL CRIME.
IN NINETEEN-EIGHTEEN, MADAM WALKER FINALLY SETTLED IN A TOWN NEARNEW YORK CITY WHERE SHE BUILT A LARGE, BEAUTIFUL HOUSE. SHECONTINUED HER WORK BUT HER HEALTH BEGAN TO WEAKEN. HER DOCTORSADVISED HER TO SLOW DOWN. BUT SHE WOULD NOT LISTEN. SHE DIED THENEXT YEAR. SHE WAS FIFTY-ONE YEARS OLD.
VOICE ONE:
MADAM C. J. WALKER NEVER FORGOT WHERE SHE CAME FROM. NOR DID SHESTOP DREAMING OF HOW LIFE COULD BE.
AT A MEETING OF THE NATIONAL NEGRO BUSINESS LEAGUE, MADAM WALKEREXPLAINED THAT SHE WAS A WOMAN WHO CAME FROM THE COTTON FIELDS OFTHE SOUTH. “I WAS PROMOTED FROM THERE TO THE WASHTUB,” SHE SAID.”THEN I WAS PROMOTED TO THE COOK KITCHEN, AND FROM THERE I PROMOTEDMYSELF INTO THE BUSINESS OF MANUFACTURING HAIR GOODS ANDPREPARATIONS. I HAVE BUILT MY OWN FACTORY ON MY OWN GROUND.”
SHE NOT ONLY IMPROVED HER OWN LIFE, BUT THAT OF OTHER WOMEN INSIMILAR SITUATIONS. MADAM C. J. WALKER EXPLAINED IT THIS WAY, “IF IHAVE ACCOMPLISHED ANYTHING IN LIFE, IT IS BECAUSE I HAVE BEENWILLING TO WORK HARD.”
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VOICE TWO:
THIS SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY VIVIAN BOURNAZIAN.I’M RICH KLEINFELDT.
VOICE ONE:
AND I’M SHIRLEY GRIFFITH. JOIN US AGAIN NEXT WEEK AT THIS TIMEFOR ANOTHER PEOPLE IN AMERICA PROGRAM ON THE VOICE OF AMERICA.