1867-1919

Sarah Breedlove, later known as Madam C. J. Walker, described herself as a "woman who came from the cotton fields of the South...promoted from there to the washtub...then to the cook kitchen." When Sarah began losing her hair, like many African-American women of that time, she prayed to God in desperation and later said, "He answered my prayer." Walker began selling hair and beauty products she had developed, traveling the US teaching hair-care methods and training stylists and beauticians in the Walker System. She used her position to oppose racial discrimination, and her wealth to support civil, religious, educational and social institutions to assist African Americans. In her will Walker, the wealthiest African American woman of her time, bequeathed two-thirds of her estate to the programs she had supported during her lifetime.

Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9 

Born December 23, 1867, Sarah Breedlove Walker was the first free-born child of sharecroppers in Delta, Louisiana. Life was hard, but slavery had ended, and the Breedlove family was free - and if you were free, you could dream.

And dream she did. VISION OF BEAUTY follows Sarah Breedlove Walker's rise from a bleak world of poverty and discrimination to unprecedented success as a businesswoman and philanthropist. Through tenacity and faith, she discovered a cure for her own hair loss, then began marketing her original products through the Mme. C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company. Well known as a woman of economic independence, Madam Walker offered a vision of dignity and freedom for her people and a powerful role model for women and girls of all races. Recommended for ages 8 to 12, 48 pages.