Before Madam C.J. Walker, There Was Annie Malone

Malone may not have had Walker’s million-dollar marketing strategy, but she had a million dollars first.

L: Annie Malone via Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture R: Madam C.J. Walker via National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of A’Lelia Bundles/ Walker Family

For over a century, the legacy of Madam C.J. Walker has overshadowed the life of Annie Malone. Walker’s well-documented success has allowed her to stake claim to what Malone did first — establishing a…