The Negro Living Amongst WASP

Villa Lewaro, was the home of the late Madam C.J. Walker. A self made woman, is said to be the first Afro-America, and woman to have become a millionaire. Making her fortune in hair care products for the Afro-American people. The home is located at Irvington, New York.

Born 1867, Sara Breedlove, Delta Louisiana to former slave parents only to be orphaned by the age of seven. She and her sister escaped from Delta due to an epidemic of yellow fever, and failing cotton crops, to Vicksburg in 1878. At the age of fourteen, Sarah married Moses McWilliams to escape her sister's abusive husband. They had a daughter, Lelia (later known as A'Lelia Walker, a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance). When Lelia was only two years old, McWilliams died.

Sarah's second marriage to John Davis August 11, 1894 failed and ended sometime in 1903. She married for the third time in January, 1906 to newspaper sales agent, Charles Joseph Walker; they divorced around 1910.

Madam Walker's home, Villa Lewaro, was built in August of 1918 on Irvington-on-Hudson, New York. Her neighbors included industrialists Jay Gould and John D. Rockefeller. The grand estate served not only as her home but as a conference center for summits of race leaders to discuss current issues.

Madam Walker died at Villa Lewaro at the age of 51 on Sunday, May 25, 1919 from complications of hypertension. Upon her death she was considered to be the wealthiest African-American woman in America and known to be the first African-American woman millionaire. Some sources cite her as the first self-made American woman millionaire. Her daughter Lelia succeeded her as president of the C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company