New Voices Foundation aims to carry the late beauty mogul’s property and passion for women’s entrepreneurship into the future.

Hair care tycoon Madam C.J. Walker, the United States’ first self-made Black woman millionaire, used her immense fortune to support Black economic and cultural achievement throughout the early 20th century. New Voices Foundation now seeks to preserve that legacy in the Irvington, New York, mansion she built nearly a century ago.

Archival photograph of a large group gathering at Madam C.J. Walker’s Villa Lewaro, downloaded with permission from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s website on December 20, 2018.
Photo: A’Lelia Bundles/Madam Walker Family Archives/Courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced yesterday (December 19) that the foundation acquired Walker’s home, dubbed Villa Lewaro. The foundation functions as the nonprofit wing of the $100 million New Voices Fund—which supports women entrepreneurs of color—and will spearhead its revitalization.