Madam C.J. Walker, the first self-made female millionaire in the United Stats, is being honored by Mattel as the next female role model to be featured in Barbie’s line of Inspiring Women dolls.
Walker made her fortune beginning in 1910 in Indianapolis by developing a line of haircare products and cosmetics designed for Black women. In 1998, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Madam C. J. Walker commemorative stamp as part of its Black Heritage Series.
The Madam C.J. Walker doll features a rendition of the entrepreneur holding her original product, “Wonderful Hair Grower.”
Walker’s great-great granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles worked with Mattel on the collaboration and introduced the doll in an Instagram video.
“As a collector of Black dolls, I can tell you this really makes my heart sing!” she commented. Bundles is elated that Walker follows other trailblazing women in this special Barbie collection.
“I love that she joins Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Sally Ride and Eleanor Roosevelt,” added Bundles, who wrote the 2001 biography On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker.
The Barbie Inspiring Women Series pays tribute to incredible heroines of their time; courageous women who took risks, changed rules and paved the way for generations of girls to dream bigger than ever before.
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