Welcome to the History Chicks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

A quick word on terminology. When we're quoting material that was written during Mrs. Walker's

lifetime, we do use the terms in common use at the time, negro, and or colored. This is simply

for historical accuracy and in no way are we meaning any disrespect whatsoever.

And here is your 30-second summary. Born into a family of former slaves and orphaned at an early

age, Sarah Bredlove, better known as Madame CJ Walker, parlayed hard work, a talent for marketing,

and a strong spirit of philanthropy into a business empire that lifted tens of thousands of

her fellow African-Americans out of poverty. The end.

Let's talk about Madame CJ Walker. But first, let's place her in history. In 1906, Willis

Carrier received the first patent for the air conditioner. Will Kellogg and Charles Bolin

founded the Battle Creek Toasted Cornflake Company, which is now Kellogg's. A magnitude

7.8 earthquake in San Francisco and the resulting firestorm killed over 3,000 people and destroyed

75% of that city. The Wright brothers patented their airplane. President Theodore Roosevelt

signed into law the Antiquities Act, which enabled him to protect such things as the famous

Devil's Tower in Wyoming and the Grand Canyon. The code SOS was adopted as the official warning

signal by the first conference on wireless telegraphy, Aussie Nelson, Gracie Allen, and

S.D. Lauder were born, Marshall Field, Susan B. Anthony, and painter Paul Sezon died,

and on January 4, 1906, Sarah Bredlove McWilliams married Charles Joseph Walker and changed

her name and the name of her famous company to Madame CJ Walker.

Hello, and welcome to the show. This is Beckett. Susan is out with a health issue, so today

we have a special guest host who's been so gracious to stop in for her.

Alayah Williams of the 1849 podcast whose tagline is We Will Edutane You, which seems to

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