Her Dream of Dreams: The Rise and Triumph of Madam C. J. Walker

by Beverly Lowry

“I am a woman that came from the cotton fields of the South; I was promoted from there to the wash-tub; then I was promoted to the cook kitchen, and from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations.”
--Madam C. J. Walker, National Negro Business League Convention, 1912

Now, from a writer acclaimed for her novels and the memoir Crossed Over , a remarkable biography of a truly heroic figure.

Madam C. J. Walker created a cosmetics empire and became known as the first female self-made millionaire in this nation’s history, a noted philanthropist and champion of women’s rights and economic freedom. These achievements seem nothing less than miraculous given that she was born, in 1867, to former slaves in a hamlet on the Mississippi River. How she came to live on another river, the Hudson, in a Westchester County mansion, and in a New York City town house, is at once inspirational and mysterious, because for all that is known about the famous entrepreneur, much that occurred before her magnificent transformation—years that trace a circuitous route across the country—remains obscure.

By breathing life into scattered clues and dry facts, and with a deep understanding of the times and places through which Madam Walker moved, Beverly Lowry tells a story that stretches from the antebellum South to the Harlem Renaissance and bridges nearly a century of our history in her search for the distant truths of a woman who defied all odds and redefined conventional expectations.

“Wherever there was one colored person, whether it was a city, a town, or a puddle by the railroad tracks, everybody knew her name.”
--Violet Davis Reynolds, Stenographer, Madam C. J. Walker Co

Genres: History, Nonfiction

496 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because I got Maggie Walker and Madam Walker confused! I appreciate that each chapter ended with a count of the lynchings each year and am curious about the years after her death. I thoroughly enjoyed a part at the beginning of the book when she was a washer woman/ laundress. It provided a thorough breakdown of all the steps and labor involved in the task at that time and wow I had no idea!!I'm not quite sure how to rate it. If was informative especially in regards to watching the world change as she was the daughter of slaves and becomes one of the wealthiest women in the country. I do not think that I would recommend it to anyone who wasn't very interested in the subject or a determined reader.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard about this book on NPR - and while it intriqued me how this young black woman became on of the US first philanthropic millionaires, there are some slow areas of book. The read will add to your knowledge and understanding of a very difficult world for women, let alone a black woman grandaughter of slaves.