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Article: Elite opulence: Madam C.J. Walker's New York estate still a showplace of nation's first self-made female millionaire.(EBONY HOMES)
- Article from:
- Ebony
- Article date:
- December 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Johnson Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IT WAS MADAM C.J. WALKER'S CROWN JEWEL, a mansion befitting the country's first self made woman millionaire.
The daughter of freed slaves and one-time washer woman had made her fortune creating and selling hair care products. She had amassed a sales force of more than 2,000 people and enough money to live among the country's elite.
So about 25 miles north of New York City, on the banks of the Hudson River, Walker built a 30-room showplace that was so magnificent, The New York Times called it "a place fit for a fairy princess" when it was completed in 1918.
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She hired Vertner W. ...