Wk 6: Wrapping it up

This week I posted my cultural site on the Bb forum for peers to review. I look foward to reading their comments and suggestions for improvement. I also posted several pictures of Madam C.J. Walker and her invention to my project. The layout of some of the pictures are not turning out the way I would like them to. I click to right or left justify photos, and the photos continue to be justified to the left and not text wrapped like it shows before viewing the page. on the other hand, two photos are text wrapped just fine. I even tried to center the photos and this mechanism is not working either. The pictures continue to left justify. Althought the layout is not exacly how I would like, it works and I feel proud of the work I posted. I am going to read feedback from students, proof read my paper, and then submit by final work by Monday, May 12th at 1000.

Week 5: Progress and Difficulties

This week has been quite busy. I have typed my project and placed it online with many successes and a few short term difficulties. For the blog pages, I was initially confused about how to add pages to my main page. After looking around, I discovered how to add pages. I was then able to figure out how to re-number the pages into the order I wanted them.

It was a different experience to use Notepad because I had never used this type of document to type an assignment on. It was interesting not having spell check or paper alignment on the document. Overall, everything went smoothly and I was able to transfer my work onto my webpage without any difficulties.

I feel good about the information I have written, however I still feel I need to re-read my work and work on changes. I am looking forward to adding images to my webpages.

Discussion with Jane Nichols

I contacted Ms. Nichols via email on Monday evening. She responded today and her response has already been very helpful. Ms. Nichols suggested using Academic Search Premier, America: History and Life, and using Google Scholar. Already, I have tracked more resources, particularly one that gave more information about what types of ingredients Walker used for her hair products. I think the biggest challenge will be to find information on the technology for creating hair products because the technology is like homemade ingredients. And however Walker did not invent the ironing comb, she did help advance its concept, which I could discuss.

Ms. Nichols also informed me that she did not find much research on other inventors of cosmetology. However I plan to do research about other African American female inventors of that timeframe.

I did browse around the OSU library catalog, but realized that it would be unrealistic to continue searching for books I would have no time or intention on retrieving in Corvallis. My sister goes to University of Oregon and I used its library catalog so she could retrieve the few books I have at hand now. My sister plans to re-check them out for my use. These references include the ones I used in my post from week 3 about Madam C.J. Walker.

Overall, I think I am off to a good start. I still need to do more research on the technology aspect and timeframe/statistics using the additional suggestions Ms. Nichols gave me.

 

About Madam C.J. Walker

 

Madam C.J. Walker, who was born Sara Breedlove, was born to croppers near Delta, Louisiana in 1867. She worked as an uneducated farm laborer and laundress until she moved to St. Louis (“Madam CJ Walker” 2008).  About two years later, her first husband died and as a single mom making about $1.50 a day, she earned barely enough to help support her and her daughter’s education (“Madam CJ Walker” 2008). Soon later, her life changed from making daily wagers, to becoming one of the most successful African American female entrepreneurs.

          Madam C.J. Walker learned to live life without letting racial segregation and the stereotypical vision of a woman stand in her way.  She became a self-made entrepreneur in the world of cosmetology. Her contribution to the hair care business was significant. At first, she invented a hair grower and thickener with a main purpose of helping hair appear straighter. In America, straight hair was valued and for many African American women, hair was in the form of tightly curled locks (Lommel,1993). The hair product was called the Wonderful Hair Grower in which she created by experimenting with homemade remedies and store-bought products (“Madam CJ Walker” 2008).   She didn’t want to present with disrespect to African American women by developing a product to in result, change hair from curly to straight. She stated, “I grow hair…I want the great masses of my people to take a greater pride in their appearance and give their hair proper attention.” (Lommel, 1993). What brought Madam C.J. Walker’s motivation to creating a hair growing product was her own battle with a scalp ailment that cause her to lose most of her hair (“Madam CJ Walker” 2008). 

Although Madam C.J. Walker did not invent the hair straighten, she modified the first comb that helps straighten hair with heat. The reason why she modified rather than invented this comb is because white women were testing protypes of straightening combs in France at the time (Lommel, 1993). However, by 1910, Walker took her hair preparation product, began selling it door-to-door with great success, and soon opened a factory for cosmetology including a hair and manicure salon and a training school (“Madam CJ Walker” 2008).  After the hit success of the Wonderful Hair Grower a month later, vegetable shampoo was added, as well as a scalp formula and manicure products. (Bundles, 2001).

Madam C.J. Walker lived from 1867 to 1919 therefore I cannot interview her today. However, the great granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker’s only child, A’Lelia Bundles lives and works actively to make Walker’s life known by writing books and speaking publicly. I could contact A’Lelia by phone or e-mail to ask questions and ask for permission to use photos.

 

References:

 

Bundles, A’Lelia (2001). One Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J.

Walker. New York: Scribner.

 

“Madam CJ Walker” (2008). Madam CJ Walker: The Official Website. Retrieved April

15, 2008 at http://www.madamcjwalker.com/    

 

Lommel, Cookie (1993). Madam C.J. Walker: Entrepreneur. Los Angeles: Melrose Square Publishing Company.

 

Culture Site Intro

I am interested in learning more about the contributions African America female inventors have made. I am currently doing research.

 

 I decided on Madam CJ Walker. Details soon.