NAME: Madam C.J. Walker (birth name Sarah Breedlove)

DATE OF BIRTH: December 23, 1867

PLACE OF BIRTH: Delta, Louisiana

DATE OF DEATH: May 25, 1919

PLACE OF DEATH: Irvington-on-Hudson, New York

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Madam Walker was an entrepreneur who built her empire developing hair products for black women. She claims to have built her company on an actual dream where a large black man appeared to her and gave her a formula for curing baldness. When confronted with the idea that she was trying to conform black women's hair to that of whites, she stressed that her products were simply an attempt to help black women take proper care of their hair and promote its growth.