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

by Beverly Lowry

Madam C. J. Walker is an American rags-to-riches icon. Born to former slaves in Louisiana in 1867, she went on to become a prominent African American businesswoman and the first female self-made millionaire in U.S. history. The story of her transformation from a laundress to a tremendously successful entrepreneur is both inspirational and mysterious, as many of the details of her early life remain obscure. In this superior biography, Beverly Lowry’s abundant research fleshes out Walker’s thinly documented story and frames it in the roiling race relations of her day.

Walker grew up illiterate and worked as a washerwoman well into her thirties before staking her future on a “Wonderful Hair Grower.” Defying all odds, Walker learned to read and write, mastered marketing and spin, and built a booming cosmetics empire that provided lucrative work for thousands of black women and allowed her to engage in philanthropy and civil rights activism until her death in a Westchester mansion in 1919. Spanning from the antebellum South to the Harlem Renaissance, Lowry brings this intriguing and important woman vividly to life.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

496 pages, Paperback

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.