Madam C.J. Walker (Sarah Breedlove) was born on December 23, 1867 on a plantation in Delta, Louisiana.  At age 14, she married and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where she worked as a washerwoman and experimented with various hair treatments in her free time.  Her husband then died when she was 20.  However, Walker went on to discover a formula for African-American women’s hair that made it have a smooth texture.  The product was an instant success.  She then developed her own line of hair care products.  With the help of her new husband Charles Walker, she set up a mail order system.  She also managed to have door-to-door agents nationwide, and she opened her own beauty school in Pittsburgh.  She then moved the headquarters of her business to Indianapolis, Indiana. 

 At one point, Walker's company employed over 3,000 people.  She became one of America’s best-known women of her time. She is often referred to as the first self-made American woman millionaire.  However, she was incredibly generous with her money.  Walker gave money to extensive philanthropies educational scholarships, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, home for the aged, and the National Conference of Lynching.  She died on May 25, 1919.  She left her self-made money to her daughter, different charities, and educational institutes. 

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