Madam C. J. Walker and the Origins of Black American High Society

Abstract

This article explores the early 20th-century hair-care pioneer Madam C. J. Walker's relationship with emergent forms of American advertising and media. It argues that Madam C. J. Walker's meteoric rise from anonymity to household name required extensive attention to media and publicity. By analyzing the steps that Madam Walker took to transform herself into a modern Black American celebrity, this article demonstrates that Madam Walker created a public persona that blended representations of success, wealth, and leisure with intentional expressions of racial responsibility. In addition to shedding light on the mass media's role in the creation of global "high society," attention to Madam Walker's uses of publicity offers insight into the contours of a distinctive Black American interpretation of high society at the start of the 20th century.