A'Lelia Walker

A'Lelia Walker (March 21, 1889 – August 17, 1931) was an American businesswoman and patron of the arts. She was the only child of Madam C.J. Walker, popularly credited as being the first self-made woman millionaire in the United States and one of the first African American millionaires.

A'Lelia Walker was born Lelia McWilliams in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1885, the daughter of Moses McWilliams and the woman later known as Madam C. J. Walker. Her father died when she was 2. Her mother later married Charles Joseph Walker, a newspaper advertising salesman, and became an independent hairdresser and retailer of cosmetic creams. A'Lelia grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and attended Knoxville College in Tennessee before entering the family business.

A'Lelia Walker became president of her mother's company in 1919 and remained in that position until her death in August 1931. She initiated a number of marketing campaigns to promote the company -- including a competition among prominent ministers for a Trip to the Holy Land in 1924 -- and remained the face of the Walker Company after her mother's death, but the day-to-day operation was overseen by Attorney F. B. Ransom and factory manager Alice Kelly at the Indianapolis headquarters. During the 1920s, A'Lelia Walker immersed herself in Harlem’s dynamic social life as a patron of the arts and hostess of some of the eras most notable social gatherings.

Walker Company sales began to suffer in 1929, with the beginning of the Great Depression. Increased expenses associated with a new million dollar headquarters and manufacturing facility opened in late 1927 in Indianapolis, Indiana, placed additional financial pressure on the operation and A’Lelia was forced to sell a great deal of her valuable art and antiques.

Her adopted daughter Mae Walker was president of the company from 1931 until her death in 1945. Mae's daughter, A'Lelia Mae Perry Bundles (1928–1976), succeeded her mother as president of the company. Today the company's building is known as the Madam Walker Theatre Center and is a National Historic Landmark.

A'Lelia Walker counted among her friends many accomplished African American musicians. She developed an early love of classical music and opera in part because the choir director at the AME church she and her mother attended in St. Louis was a classically trained opera singer and organist. She grew up in the neighborhood where Scott Joplin and other ragtime musicians gathered at Tom Turpin's Rosebud Cafe on St. Louis's Market Street.

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