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Walker, A’Lelia(1885–1931)
A businesswoman, an enthusiastic patron of the
arts, and the only daughter of Madam C. J. Walker,
the self-made business phenomenon known for her
innovations in African-American hair care.
Walker, who inherited millions from her
mother, was one of the most flamboyant and ener-
getic hostesses of the Harlem Renaissance period.
She had three primary residences, an Edgecombe
Avenue apartment, a mansion on 136th Street,
and VILLALEWARO, a splendid mansion located at
Irvington-on-Hudson, New York.
Walker was an enthusiastic supporter of the
arts and engaged frequently with literary figures of
the period. It was she who established a regular
salon that came to be known as the DARKTOWER.
The meetings, held on one floor of her home on
136th Street, were part of a traditional salon cul-
ture that enriched the literary and cultural endeav-
ors and relationships in such cities as BOSTON,
PHILADELPHIA, New York, and WASHINGTON, D.C.
She died in 1931. The luminaries of the move-
ment attended her funeral. Speakers included the
Rev. ADAMCLAYTONPOWELL, SR., who read the
eulogy, LANGSTONHUGHES, who shared his poem
“To A’Lelia,” and educator MARY MCLEOD
BETHUNE.

Bibliography
Bundles, A’Lelia Perry. Madam C.J. Walker.New York:
Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.
———. On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of
Madam C. J. Walker.New York: Scribner, 2001.
Lowry, Beverly. Her Dream of Dreams: The Rise and Tri-
umph of Madam C. J. Walker.New York: Knopf, 2003.

Neihart, Ben. Rough Amusements: The True Story of

A’Lelia Walker, Patroness of the Harlem Renaissance’s

Down-Low Culture.New York: Bloomsbury, 2003.

Walker, Margaret Abigail(1915–1998)

A celebrated poet, educator, and novelist whose im-

pressive career was shaped by the Harlem Renais-

sance. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in

July 1915 to the Reverend Sigismund Walker and

his wife, Marion Dozier Walker, a music teacher.

The family relocated to New Orleans in 1925, and

Walker went on to attend New Orleans University,

Socialite, patron, and heiress, A’Lelia Walker (Yale

Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book

and Manuscript Library)