The story is the essence of the American Dream.
Madam C.J. Walker could not have been born with less, starting life as the child of former slaves on a plantation in Louisiana. She was orphaned at age 7 and worked in cotton fields to survive. As an adult, she became a successful saleswoman, started her own business selling beauty products and opened her own beauty school.
Before she was 50 years old, she had established a hair and beauty product empire centered in Indianapolis.
“It’s a great American rags-to-riches story,” said Vickie Daniel, an Indiana storyteller and actress. “Her power was the ability to be persistent, and if you have a dream, to take it all the way.”
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Walker’s story teaches lessons that all of us should learn, and carries the inspirational message that with hard work you can achieve anything.
That’s why Daniel has put together a first-person performance bringing Walker’s achievements to life. She will give her presentation at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Johnson County Museum of History.
“She is really the one who has taken the beauty industry to where it is — her business savvy with her products, marketing, allowing women to have economic independence,” Daniel said. “Her ability to take a product and use glamour and the power of beauty to empower women is still going on.”
Walker’s legacy is omnipresent around Indiana and in our daily lives. Visitors to the Indiana Avenue district of Indianapolis will pass by the regal Madam Walker Theatre Center, the former headquarters of Walker’s business empire and now a focal point of social justice and cultural education in the community.
By developing a nationwide network of agents and in-demand hair-care products, she was a forerunner to the more than $60 billion cosmetics industry. Her zealous and efficient approach to building a business is still studied today.
A quote that Walker gave during a speech at the National Negro Business League Convention in July 1912 is described in the biography “On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker” by A’Lelia Bundles, Walker’s great-great-granddaughter.
“I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations. … I have built my own factory on my own ground,” Walker said.
Walker’s rise from the poor daughter of sharecroppers to self-made millionaire is one that has fascinated Daniel throughout her life. Growing up just down Indiana Avenue from the Madam Walker Theatre Center, she was raised in the shadow of Walker’s achievements. Daniel’s mother started a beauty college, and she is a licensed cosmetologist in addition to a jazz musician.
As a local storyteller, she felt that it was important that other people understood how remarkable Walker’s life was.
“When I got the opportunity to tell that story, it felt natural to me,” she said. “My mother’s story and my story of being supported by her business around beauty empowered me. It constantly keeps giving.”
In her performances, Daniel tries to bring Walker to life with an interactive and conversational delivery. She adopts the persona of the beauty magnate, dressing in early 20th century finery, and speaks directly to the audience about her life’s struggles and achievements.
She brings out artifacts and visual aids to illustrate the story, and to better connect with people.
“It’s engaging. I try to let them know how much of an innovator and a visionary she was, and that many of us are today. We have a vision. We’re innovators, and her story tells us to keep going,” Daniel said.
The Johnson County Museum of History has focused on bringing in storytellers to bring historical figures topics to audiences. Past performances have focused on Clara Barton, one of the founders of the American Red Cross, ghost stories and the Indiana War Memorials.
With the opportunity to tell Walker’s story to the people of Johnson County, Daniel hopes that she’s able to inspire people to think about their own dreams in a way they never have before.
“Whatever your passion, follow it. Look at her life. This was an African-American woman out of slavery who became American’s first self-made woman millionaire. You can only do that in America,” Daniel said. “It’s a great story. It inspires me every time I do it.”
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Madam C.J. Walker
What: A live storyteller event by local actress Vickie Daniel focused on the life of Indinanapolis entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker
When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Johnson County Museum of History, 135 N. Main St., Franklin
Cost: Free
More information: johnsoncountymuseum.org
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