Madam C.J. Walker lived in St. Louis, Missouri, for nearly two decades working as a laundress and cook; it was where she was inspired to launch her own line of hair care products. After a move to Denver, Colorado in the early 1900s, she built a hair care empire and was the first self-made female millionaire in the United States.  

Her daughter, A’Lelia Walker, inherited her mother’s groundbreaking business and became America’s first well-known Black heiress and a patron of the arts. Described by poet Langston Hughes as “joy goddess of Harlem’s 1920s,” A’Lelia Walker’s legendary parties and salon helped shape a cultural movement of African American arts, literature, politics, and music.  

A’Lelia Bundles’ latest book, Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance, tells the story of her namesake. Bundles discusses how Walker balanced life as a wife, mother, business leader, and arts supporter, while stepping out from her famous mother’s shadow.

Bundles is also the author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, a New York Times Notable Book and bestseller. She founded the Madam Walker Family Archives, the largest private collection of Walker photos and memorabilia, and spent 30 years working in network television news at NBC and ABC. 

Funding for the program provided by the Health Forward Foundation 

This program is cosponsored by the Greater Kansas City Chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc™., Greater Kansas City Black History Study Group (ASALH), and Ea La Mar’s Cosmetology College.