Hair-care pioneer center of kin’s talk
Washington author and journalist A’Lelia Bundles shared a few fascinating facts about her Arkansas relatives during a July 27 talk hosted by the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.
Bundles is the greatgreat-granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker, late 19th/early 20th-century black-hair-care pioneer. Walker is profiled in Mosaic Templars’ current exhibit on hair, “Don’t Touch My Crown,” and Bundles’ appearance was among the events being held in conjunction with the exhibit.
During her talk — “Arkansas Roots,” which took place in the Elders Lecture Hall of Philander Smith College’s Kendall Science Center — Bundles discussed her mother, whose family is from Pine Bluff and Helena; summers in Pine Bluff with her great-aunt; her Helena great-great-grandfather, Henderson B. Robinson, who served in the Arkansas Legislature; and a grandfather, Marion Perry Jr., who worked for the Mosaic Templars, served as principal of Pine Bluff’s Merrill High School and married Walker’s adopted granddaughter, Mae. Bundles noted that just as Walker had married three times, her daughter, A’Lelia Walker, married three times also — twice to Arkansas men who’d gone to Arkansas AM&N, now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Detailing Madam Walker’s life and roles as philanthropist, economic empowerer of other women, political activist and patron of the arts, Bundles made a point to debunk the myth for those who hadn’t yet gotten the memo: “Madam Walker did not invent the hot comb.”
After the talk, guests enjoyed a dessert reception outside the lecture hall as Bundles signed copies of her books: On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker; Madam Walker Theatre Center: An Indianapolis Treasure; and, for young readers, All About Madam C.J. Walker. — Story and photos by Helaine R. Williams