Madam Walker's Secrets to Success
If you're doing research about Walker, you'll find dozens of articles, videos and links in our special Black History Report Guide.
For media queries and licensing questions, please contact Walker's biographer and great-great-granddaughter, A'Lelia Bundles at www.aleliabundles.com ...but if you are writing a Black History Report, please click here first.
Visit us on Facebook and like our Madam Walker pages at Madam Walker Bio and Madam Walker Family Archives.
Learn more about Madam Walker from A'Lelia Bundles, her great-great-granddaughter and official biographer. Click here for a new video.
Audio/Video Sources
Videos and Films
See A’Lelia Bundles–Madam Walker’s biographer and great-great-granddaughter–and others discuss Madam Walker at these video links
A’Lelia talks about Madam Walker’s early life & business on Biography.com (Jan 2013)
A’Lelia talks about how Madam Walker developed her business on Biography.com (Jan 2013)
A’Lelia talks about Madam Walker’s political activism on Biography.com (Jan 2013)
A’Lelia Bundles talks about her Walker research at the National Archives (February 2011)
Harvard Business School Professor Nancy Koehn discusses Madam Walker
A’Lelia Bundles talks about Walker and family legacies in Jerusalem (October 2009)
A’Lelia Bundles discusses Madam Walker with CEO TV’s Michael E. Parker (July 2011)
Walker’s Legacy/DC Commission for Women interview with Natalie Cofield
January 27, 2010
http://www.octt.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/channel16/3143.asx
HGTV 1998 Documentary about Madam Walker’s Irvington, NY mansion
The History Makers
View this interview with A’Lelia Bundles from The History Makers website:
http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=489
Library of Congress/Resourceful Women Symposium
Resourceful Women , a Library of Congress symposium, features noted scholars discussing women’s history and the resources of the Library of Congress. A’Lelia Bundles joins Eleanor Roosevelt biographer Alida Black , Indiana University professor Joanne Passet and Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study fellow Susan Ware for a discussion on women’s biography. Hear Bundles’s June 19, 2003 thirteen minute presentation at http://www.loc.gov/rr/women/bundles.html
Related Websites on the Internet:
www.madamcjwalker.com
This is the most reliable and accurate source of information about Madam Walker
on the Internet.A’Lelia Bundles, Madam C. J. Walker’s great-great-granddaughter and biographer www.aleliabundles.com
www.IndianaHistory.org and http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.com/u/IHS?query=Madam+Walker
The Madam Walker Collection, which includes extensive primary source documents about Madam Walker’s life and business, is housed at the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis, IN. Wilma Moore is the senior archivist of African American Collections.
www.walkertheatre.com
(The Madame Walker Theatre Center in Indianapolis)www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp
Go to “Two American Entrepreneurs: Madam C. J. Walker and
J. C. Penney” (National Park Service “Teaching with Historic Places”)Please be careful when you do research on the Internet about Madam Walker.
There is a lot of misinformation on the web.
Audio
RADIO INTERVIEWS WITH A’LELIA BUNDLES ABOUT MADAM WALKER
MILLIONAIRE GIRLS MOVEMENT Ann marie Houghtailing interviews A’Lelia about Madam Walker and creating wealth (August 2011)
WNSR (NEW SCHOOL RADIO) Roy Paul interviews A’Lelia Bundles about Madam Walker’s life (November 2011)
NPR
Fresh AirHear this NPR Fresh Air interview with A’Lelia Bundles as she discusses On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13&prgDate=15-Feb-2001
February 15, 2001
NPR
Morning Edition with Susan Stamberg
In Part III of her Beauty Series, Susan Stamberg interviews A’Lelia Bundles about Madam Walker and Beauty
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3025036
June 29, 2004
WAMU
Public Interest with Kojo Nnamdi
A’Lelia Bundles discusses On Her Own Ground. Scroll down to the March 2, 2001 interview.
http://www.wamu.org/programs/kn/01/03/02.php
March 2, 2001
NPR
The Tavis Smiley Show
“A Second Renaissance for Harlem” includes a segment about Madam Walker and an interview with A’Lelia Bundles
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1494405
Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2007-01-27-voa1.cfm
January 27, 2007
Wisconsin Public Radio
To the Best of Our Knowledge
“Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow” is an hour long program about hair care and baldness in the history of civilization. A’Lelia’s interview is from 17:35 to 28:28
http://www.wpr.org/book/020428b.htm#%20segment%202
Wisconsin Public Radio
Conversations with Jean Feraca
To find the April 23, 2001 interview with A’Lelia Bundles, use the search box athttp://www.wpr.org/search/index.cfm
Videos and Films
- Listen to A’Lelia Bundles at these video links Walker’s Legacy/DC Commission for Women interview with Natalie Cofield
January 27, 2010
http://www.octt.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/channel16/3143.asxThe History Makers
View this interview with A’Lelia Bundles from The History Makers website:
http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=489
Library of Congress/Resourceful Women SymposiumResourceful Women , a Library of Congress symposium, features noted scholars discussing women’s history and the resources of the Library of Congress. A’Lelia Bundles joins Eleanor Roosevelt biographer Alida Black , Indiana University professor Joanne Passet and Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study fellow Susan Ware for a discussion on women’s biography. Hear Bundles’s June 19, 2003 thirteen minute presentation at http://www.loc.gov/rr/women/bundles.html
TAPES
Charles Wright Museum in Detroit
A’Lelia Bundles kicks off the book tour for On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker at Detroit’s Charles Wright Museum on January 27, 2001. Order from C-Span at
http://www.c-spanstore.org/shop/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=162530-1
A Walk Through HarlemA Walk Through Harlem with David Hartman and Barry Lewis provides a walking tour through Harlem . A’Lelia Bundles discusses Madam Walker. Order the tape athttp://www.thirteen.org/harlem/highlights2.html
National Press Club Book FairA’Lelia Bundles is interviewed at the NPC Book Fair in Washington, DC on November 8, 2001.Order from C-Span at http://www.c-spanstore.org/shop/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=167579-4
Virginia Festival of the BookA’Lelia Bundles appears on a panel with other biographers at the March 23, 2002 Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, Virginia. Order from C-Span at http://www.c-spanstore.org/shop/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=169383-1
Guardians of HistoryA’Lelia Bundles appears on a panel with Adam Clayton Powell III, Christopher Foreman and Donzaleigh Abernathy at the University of Rochester on October 22, 2005. Order from C-Span athttp://www.c-spanstore.org/shop/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=189515-1
Two Dollars and a DreamTwo Dollars and a Dream , the award-winning film by MacArthur Grant recipient Stanley Nelson, first aired on PBS in 1987. Order the film atwww.filmakers.com/indivs/TwoDollarsDream.htmTo view a clip of Two Dollars and a Dream, go to www.firelightmedia.org or click on http://www.firelightmedia.org/flash/mainflash2.html
Madam C. J. Walker/Schlessinger VideoMadam C. J. Walker is a 30-minute video that serves as a companion to Madam C. J. Walker: Entrepreneur , the young adult biography by A’Lelia Bundles. Order fromhttp://www.libraryvideo.com/
Beauty in a Jar/A&E NetworkBeauty in a Jar , a 2003 A&E documentary, explores the social, racial, sexual and political history of American beauty culture. A’Lelia Bundles discusses Madam C. J. Walker’s role as a pioneer of the hair care industry. (Distributed by LibraryVideo.com) This video may no longer be available. http://www.libraryvideo.com/
Susan B. Anthony Slept HereSusan B. Anthony Slept Here , a one-hour documentary hosted by ABC News correspondent Lynn Sherr, features a segment about Madam Walker that was taped at Villa Lewaro, Walker ‘s Irvington-on-Hudson , NY mansion. A’Lelia Bundles is interviewed. Order this video at http://www.sfsu.edu/~avitv/avcatalog/87820.htm
CBS Sunday Morning/ “A Black Woman Who Meant Business”This CBS Sunday Morning segment features A’Lelia Bundles discussing Madam Walker and On Her Own Ground . This February 11, 2001 tape no longer is available. This video may no longer be available. Archival order information: http://www.cbsnews.com/ stories/2001/02/10/sunday/main271029.shtml
HGTV DocumentaryDesigning for History: The Madame Walker Show House, a HGTV production, provides a tour of Villa Lewaro, Madam Walker’s Irvington-on-Hudson , NY mansion during the weeks when it was a UNCF designer showhouse in 1998. The video may no longer be available at the HGTV on-line store. http://store.hgtv.com/shop/product.asp?product_code=HG2070&search_type=search&search.htm
Turner Broadcasting/Southern LivingView this interview with A’Lelia Bundles as she discusses Madam Walker on this February 2002 episode of Southern Living on the Turner South Network a
http://www.turnersouth.com/video/player/0,,575,00.htm
Transcripts
CNN Morning News
CNN Morning News anchor Daryn Kagan interviews A’Lelia Bundles about her book, On Her Own Ground on February 16, 2001. Read the transcript athttp://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0102/16/mn.04.html
Please note:
We do not recommend novels or other fictional accounts of Madam Walker’s life because of the inaccurate information which they may contain.
The Madam Walker Papers are located at the Indiana Historical Society Library in Indianapolis, Indiana. Wilma Gibbs is the archivist who oversees the collection.