A'Lelia Walker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
A'Lelia Walker
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| Born |
Lelia McWilliams
June 6, 1885 Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S.
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| Died | August 17, 1931 (aged 46) Long Branch, New Jersey, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
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| Spouse(s) | John Robinson (?–1914; div) Wiley Wilson (1919–?; div) James Arthur Kennedy
(m. 1926; div. 1931) |
| Children | Mae Walker |
| Parent(s) | Madam C. J. Walker Moses McWilliams |
| Family | A'Lelia Bundles (great granddaughter) |
A'Lelia Walker (born Lelia McWilliams; June 6, 1885 – August 17, 1931) was an American businesswoman and a big supporter of the arts. She was the only child of Madam C. J. Walker. Her mother is famous for being one of the first self-made female millionaires in the United States. She was also one of the first African American millionaires.
Contents
Life and Career
Growing Up
A'Lelia Walker was born Lelia McWilliams in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1885. Her parents were Moses and Sarah McWilliams. When A'Lelia was two years old, her father died. She and her mother then moved to St. Louis, Missouri, to live with her mother's brothers.
Her mother later married Charles Joseph Walker in 1906. She became a hairdresser and sold beauty products. A'Lelia grew up in St. Louis and went to Knoxville College in Tennessee. After college, she joined her family's business. She took the name Walker.
Leading the Family Business
A'Lelia Walker managed her mother's company, the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company, on the East Coast. Her mother bought two buildings in Harlem, New York City, and joined them together. The first floor had the Walker Hair Parlor. The second floor had the Lelia College of Beauty Culture. This is where new cosmeticians were trained for the company. A'Lelia lived and hosted parties on the top three floors.
A'Lelia became the president of the company in 1919 after her mother passed away. She stayed in this role until her own death in August 1931. She started many marketing plans to help the company. One plan was a contest for ministers to win a trip to the Holy Land in 1924. A'Lelia was the public face of the company. However, other people managed the daily work. These included attorney F. B. Ransom and factory manager Alice Kelly in Indianapolis.
During the 1920s, A'Lelia Walker was a big part of Harlem's exciting social life. She supported artists and hosted many famous parties of the Harlem Renaissance.
Sales for the Walker Company began to slow down in 1929. This was because of the start of the Great Depression. A new, expensive headquarters and factory had opened in Indianapolis in 1927. This added more costs to the company. A'Lelia had to sell many valuable artworks and old items. Her adopted daughter, Mae Walker, became company president from 1931 until she died in 1945. Mae's daughter, A'Lelia Mae Perry Bundles, then took over. Today, the company's building is known as the Madam Walker Legacy Center. It is a National Historic Landmark.
Supporting the Arts
A'Lelia Walker was friends with many talented African American musicians. She loved classical music and opera from a young age. This was partly because the choir director at her church in St. Louis was a trained opera singer and organist. She grew up in the same neighborhood where Scott Joplin and other ragtime musicians met.
In the 1920s, she hosted many musicians, actors, writers, artists, and important people at her home in Manhattan. The beautiful building was designed by Vertner Woodson Tandy. He was the first black architect licensed in New York State. From the time she arrived in Harlem in 1913, her parties included famous Harlem figures. These included James Reese Europe, J. Rosamond Johnson, Bert Williams, and Florence Mills. She also hosted Harlem Renaissance members like Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Carl Van Vechten. Live music, from classical to jazz and blues, was always a part of her parties. Her musician friends often performed.
In October 1927, she turned one floor of her home into The Dark Tower. This was a famous cultural salon. It became a place where Harlem's talented artists met with artists from Greenwich Village. Even European and African royalty visited. She hired Austrian designer Paul Frankl to create the inside look. She also entertained guests at her smaller home at 80 Edgecombe Avenue in Harlem. She also hosted parties at Villa Lewaro. This was her country house in Irvington, New York. It was a large, Italian-style mansion that she had built for her mother in 1916. Enrico Caruso, a famous Italian singer, named the house. He said it reminded him of homes in his own country.
Walker also started the Harlem Debutantes Club. She supported local missionary work among Baptist women in New York City. She went to a Baptist church and served on different committees. She sometimes spoke at women's events.
Personal Life
Walker was married three times. First, to John Robinson, a hotel waiter. They separated around 1911 and divorced in 1914. Second, to Dr. Wiley Wilson in 1919. Third, to Dr. James Arthur Kennedy in 1926. She divorced him a few months before her death in 1931.
In the 1920s, Walker traveled for four months through Europe and other places. She visited Paris, Nice, Monte Carlo, Naples, Rome, Cairo, Jerusalem, Djibouti, Addis Ababa, and London. In Paris, she spent time with dancer Josephine Baker and other famous people. She also visited Zewditu, the Empress of Ethiopia.
Her adopted daughter, Fairy Mae Bryant, was born in November 1898. A'Lelia adopted her in 1912. She was known as "Mae Walker." Mae traveled with Madam C. J. Walker as a model and assistant. In November 1923, A'Lelia Walker planned a very fancy "Million Dollar Wedding" for Mae's marriage to Dr. Gordon Jackson. Mae later divorced Jackson in 1926. She then married Attorney Marion R. Perry in September 1927. When A'Lelia Walker died in 1931, Mae took over the company. She led it until her death in 1945. Her daughter, A'Lelia Mae Perry Bundles, then became the head of the company.
Death and Legacy
A'Lelia Walker died on August 17, 1931. She passed away from a brain bleed caused by high blood pressure. This was the same health problem that led to her mother's death. She was with friends who had come to Long Branch, New Jersey, to celebrate her birthday. They had lobster and champagne, even during the Great Depression and Prohibition.
Thousands of people from Harlem lined up to see her body. Reverend Adam Clayton Powell Sr. gave a speech at her funeral. Mary McLeod Bethune, a civil rights activist, also spoke. As her casket was lowered next to her mother's grave at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, Hubert Julian flew a small plane overhead. He dropped flowers onto the site.
Langston Hughes, a famous writer, said her death was "The end of the gay times of the New Negro era in Harlem." He later wrote that her funeral felt like a big party. He said "hundreds of friends outside, waving their white, engraved invitations aloft in the vain hope of entering."
Actress Tiffany Haddish played A'Lelia Walker in the Netflix miniseries Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker. This show came out on March 20, 2020.
See Also
In Spanish: A'Lelia Walker para niños
