On Her Own Ground

The daughter of slaves, Madam C. J. Walker was orphaned at seven, married at fourteen, and widowed at twenty. She spent the better part of the next two decades laboring as a washwoman for $1.50 a week. Then -- with the discovery of a revolutionary hair care formula for black women -- everything changed. By her death in 1919, Walker managed to overcome astonishing odds, building a storied beauty empire from the ground up, amassing a wealth unprecedented among black women, and devoting her life to philanthropy and social activism. Along the way, she formed friendships with such early twentieth-century figures as W. E. B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. On Her Own Ground is the first truly comprehensive biography of one of recent history‘s most amazing entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Drawn from more than two decades of exhaustive research by A‘Lelia Bundles, Walker‘s great-great-granddaughter, the book is enriched by the author‘s exclusive access to personal letters, records, and never-before-seen photographs from the family collection. Bundles reveals surprising insights into Walker‘s rise to the top of international business, dispels many misconceptions, and showcases Walker‘s complex relationship with her daughter, a celebrated hostess of the Harlem Renaissance, and renowned friend and patron to both Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.