AN URBAN LIVIN BLACK HISTORY MOMENT
THE MADAM OF THE HUDSON RIVER
This home was designed in 1918 by an African American architect,
Vertner Woodson Tandy, for an African American cosmetics magnate, Madame
CJ Walker, on the Hudson River north of New York City. When Madame CJ
Walker was asked why she built such a palatial home, she replied that
she had not built it for herself but so that blacks could see what could
be accomplished with hard work and determination.
Villa Lewaro,
the name of the estate, has significance for both its architect and
original owner. Tandy was New York's first licensed black architect.
This building was known as his best work.
No one knows Madame
CJ Walker's exact worth, but she was considered to be the nation's first
African American woman millionaire.
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Good afternoon, my dear friends.
I arrived in London this morning to attend the launch of the Foundation
of H. E. Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigerian President. Only yesterday, I
was with our own H. E. JJ Rawlings at the Flagstaff House and these
former leaders are a store of knowledge and experience.
I
will, as part of the programme for the launch, join other colleagues
including Goodluck Jonathan to discuss youth employment and why tackling
it will help resolve many of the challenges facing Africa today. I am
looking forward to the programme tonight. --JM
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