3 PURY: the text

 Madam C.J. Walker

Where did Madam C.J. Walker grow up?

Before she became famous and wealthy, Madam C.J. Walker was born of a poor family on December 23, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana. Her birth name was Sarah Breedlove. She wouldn’t take the name Madam C.J. Walker until much later in life.

Young Sarah was the first non-slave member of her family. Her parents and older siblings had all been slaves. However, before Sarah was born, President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation and Sarah was born a free citizen of the United States.

 

A Tough Early Life

Sarah may have been born free, her life was not easy. By the time she was seven years old, both of her parents had died and she was an orphan. She moved in with her older sister and went to work as a house servant. Sarah always had to work to get food and never had the opportunity to go to school.

When Sarah was 14, she married a man named Moses McWilliams and they had a child. Unfortunately, Moses died a few years later. Sarah moved to Saint Louis where her brothers worked as barbers. She went to work as a washerwoman in order to make enough money to send her daughter to school.

 

Write True (T) or False (F) and justify highlighting the text.

Madam C.J. Walker was born in Louisiana.  TRUE

Sarah Breedlove and Madam Walker were two different people.  FALSE

Madam C.J. Walker was born after slavery officially ended. TRUE

She had a comfortable childhood. FALSE

She was an only child. FALSE   

She had a son. FALSE

She moved to St Louis with her husband. FALSE

 

Find the jobs to complete these definitions :

Someone who works in someone’s house, doing jobs such as cooking or cleaning is a house servant.

A woman who washes other people’s clothes is a washerwoman

Someone who cuts men’s hair and beard is a barber