On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker (Lisa Drew Books)

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 washerwoman 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 wealth unprecedented among black women and devoting her life to philanthropy and social activism. Along the way, she formed friendships with great early-twentieth-century politi-cal figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington.

On Her Own Ground is not only the first comprehensive biography of one of recent history's most amazing entrepreneurs and philanthropists, it is about a woman who is truly an African American icon. Drawn from more than two decades of exhaustive research, the book is enriched by the author's exclusive access to personal letters, records and never-before-seen photographs from the family collection. Bundles also showcases Walker's complex relationship with her daughter, A'Lelia Walker, a celebrated hostess of the Harlem Renaissance and renowned friend to both Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. In chapters such as "Freedom Baby," "Motherless Child," "Bold Moves" and "Black Metropolis," Bundles traces her ancestor's improbable rise to the top of an international hair care empire that would be run by four generations of Walker women until its sale in 1985. Along the way, On Her Own Ground reveals surprising insights, tells fascinating stories and dispels many misconceptions.

Fair questions. This new biography, written by the great-great granddaughter of Madam Walker, will surprise you, educate you, and (most importantly) motivate you. You have obstacles based on age, obsolete education, debt from college loans, child care problems, lack of confidence? Try comparing those with no education, a body stressed by laundry work and harsh chemicals, several husbands who abused her trust and undermined her business, mixed messages by her own community (including Booker T. Washington) about successful women, and an ungrateful daughter who never measured up to her work ethic and who enjoyed spending her mother's money.

Ms. Bundles, whose journalism credentials include a Columbia University education and experience as deputy bureau chief in the ABC News Bureau in Washington, has told the story of Madam Walker within the context that few of us have been taught. From the records of post-civil war Louisiana to nineteenth-century segregated railway journeys to northern cities, from the St. Louis World's Fair displays of ranking levels of civilization by race to the role influential African Americans played demanding justice for returning black soldiers from World War I, this book presents the cultural contexts which have been too long denied.

Read this book for inspiration. Read this book for understanding. Read this book because a potential employer might ask you, "What have you read recently?" You'll be proud of your answer.


Not Just About Hair Products -- About a "Race Woman"   March 24, 2001
Terrie L. Robinson (Sacramento, CA United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

To minimize Ms. Bundles' work as being merely a biography about a poor washerwoman who made her fortune in the then-unserved African American hair products market is to dismiss this wonderful work unfairly. "On Her Own Ground" is a wonderful portrait not just of Madam Walker's meteoric rise from abject poverty and cruel circumstances to unequaled wealth among the African American elite (and the non-African American elite, too), but about the politics of race and the politics within the African American leadership at the turn of the century. Simply put, Madam Walker was what was then known as a "race woman": A woman who used her money and influence to further the rights and opportunities of African Americans. Because of her immense wealth, she made herself a voice to be heard and a force to be reckoned with within the male-dominated African American leadership of her time (her refusing-to-be-denied quest to gain the respect of Booker T. Washington is sad, admirable and amusing all at the same time)and against the Jim Crow/"turn our heads and look away from racism" white leadership of the day. Her works on behalf of and huge donation to the black YMCA in Indianapolis, her $5,000 donation to the anti-lynching fund of the NAACP (the largest contribution to the NAACP at that time), and her charge that the Walker agents, the African American women who sold her products, not only better themselves but work towards the betterment of the race, made her a woman way ahead of her time. In reading this book, it made me question why my affirmative action generation has not accomplished nearly so much with so much more at our disposal.

On a different note, Ms. Bundles is not a historian and does not pass herself off as being one. Unlike many historians, when Ms. Bundles does not know a fact for certain, she clearly states so and offers her theories as to what might have happened during some of the gaps in Madam Walker's history. And, in an act of intellectually honesty that is becoming increasingly rare, she never passes off her theories as the only possible explanations of what could have occurred, allowing the reader to engage in conjecture on her own, which, in my view, is all the more engaging. A thoroughly enjoyable read which I predict will become required reading in college African American studies' curricula.


Our Magnificent Past   February 12, 2001
Evelyn C. White (Oakland, California USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Way before Oprah (and this is not to knock her achievements)there was Madam C.J.Walker -- businesswoman, philanthropist, civic leader, feminist -- a black woman with unswerving faith in her ability to realize the life she dreamed. She believed it and she achieved it.

A distinguished journalist who happens to be a direct descendant of Madam Walker, A'Leila Bundles has written a mesmerizing biography that will stand as the definitive account of the woman who revolutionized the black hair care industry. On Her Own Ground is unparalled in its contribution to the history of African-American women.

Those of all races, creeds and colors who are interested in success,perseverance and the pursuit of one's destiny should definitely read this book. Especially useful for aspiring entrepreneurs and independent business owners with hopes of achieving Bill Gatesian or Oprah-esque financial and civic clout.


A story of courage in a time of fear and cowardice.   March 4, 2001
Claudia (San Francisco, CA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Mme. Walker's story is one that has been told many times in many ways. This telling is especially moving and compelling, certainly more so because it comes from the great-great- granddaughter of the amazing Sarah Breedlove Walker. Compared to other more fictionalized accounts of the Walker women, on every page this story reminds us that we need not invent history. The real story of what has come before leaves little room for any other lesser telling based on fantasy and conjecture.

What A'Lelia Bundles does here, as bespeakes her journalistic and humanitarian background, is wind the story of her family with the story of the times in which they lived. It is a dream come true for those of us who love to know more about the history of our elders. Indeed it gives context to actions in history which many of us have only heard of rather sporadically, without understanding how many seemingly minor incidents shaped the grander picture of history. So many little lights went on my mind as I read her extraordinarily researced tidbits of history. This easily-read tome should be required reading for every African American history class.

What the world needs now is many more women to realize their strength within...something that was the essence of Mme. Walker's life. In reading "On Her Own Ground"...we better understand a goal for any woman's life today.