She was born on the same plantation her parents had been enslaved on.
Sarah Breedlove came into the world on December 23, 1867, in Delta, Louisiana — the first child in her family born free. She was orphaned at seven, married at fourteen, widowed at twenty — a single mother washing other people's laundry for $1.50 a day.
Then her hair began falling out.
Scalp disease was common among Black women at the time — harsh soaps, poor nutrition, almost no running water, and no products made for their hair by anyone who understood it. Sarah started experimenting on herself. What she landed on worked. And she understood something the men selling hair tonic didn't: the women buying it didn't just want hair. They wanted to be seen.
So she went door to door. Then she trained other women to go door to door. She built a manufacturing company, a training school, and a national sales force of thousands of Black women — at a time when the work available to them was almost exclusively domestic labor. She paid them well enough to buy homes.
By her death in 1919 she was the first self-made female millionaire in America.
She didn't just build a business. She built a way out — and then handed the door to other people.
The verified record
Born Sarah Breedlove, December 23, 1867, Delta, Louisiana — the first child in her family born free. Orphaned at seven, married at fourteen, widowed at twenty; worked as a washerwoman for $1.50 a day. Died May 25, 1919, Irvington, New York. Widely recognized as the first self-made female millionaire in America. Built the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company and trained thousands of Black women as commissioned sales agents.
Sources: National Women's History Museum; Indiana Historical Society.
Front: the portrait. Back: built from nothing.
Sleeve: the crown.
Garment-dyed heavyweight black. Built to Endure.