Madame C.J. Walker was born in 1867 to Owen and Minerva Breedlove, former slaves. She married C.J. Walker at fourteen and had a daughter, L'Aliea. While working as a laundress Walker nurtured her dream of making a preparation that would "improve" the texture of African women's hair. She set out with $1.25 and plenty of determination to become America's first self-made woman millionaire. She developed a line of cosmetics and hair care products especially for African-American women. She sold her wares door to door at first, then established a company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. In Indianapolis she employed thousands of people to manufacture and sell her products all over the United States, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Madame Walker moved to Harlem in 1916 and opened an elegant and fully equipped beauty salon. In 1917 she bought another property and built a mansion, where she entertained the rich and famous. Madame Walker was also a human rights activist, and visited the White House as part of a delegation that was petitioning President Woodrow Wilson to make lynching a federal crime. She also travelled around the country promoting her products and speaking out on women's and African-American rights. C.J. Walker died in 1919, leaving her business and her legacy to her daughter, L'Aliea, who continued her work.