Please find a blog post by A'Lelia Bundles, the great great granddaughter and biographer of historic figure and our namesake Madam C. J. Walker. I love Black History Month because I learn something new every day! The truth is, I’m immersed in black history every day, week and month of every year, but in February it feels as if I have lots of company. It seems that every where I turn, there are websites, blogs, television networks, radio programs and lectures all celebrating the fascinating people I love to study.

As a student in the IUPUI Museum Studies Program, I had the opportunity to explore the depths of the MWTC basement with two fellow classmates where, in the former “Coffee Pot” restaurant, we re-discovered boxes filled with Madam’s advertisement print blocks. When I saw each one I realized I was looking at Madame’s passion for promotion in one of its rawest forms: copper, zinc, and lead giving life to the company’s promises of great hair and clear skin. Madam was an inspiration to the black community and it was the company’s advertising that brought that inspiration to the masses.