Today the Walker women’s legacy is alive in two National Historic Landmarks: Villa Lewaro, their Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, mansion, and the Madam Walker Theatre Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home to the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company from 1927 until 1979, the Center now includes a small Walker museum room, sponsors a vibrant schedule of theater and musical performances, operates a cultural arts education program for Indianapolis youth and hosts the annual Madam Walker Spirit Awards for Entrepreneurs. Villa Lewaro, a private residence, was briefly opened to the public during the fall of 1998 when it was featured as a designer show house to benefit the United Negro College Fund. Although Madam Walker’s will stipulated that the home was to be donated to the NAACP upon A’Lelia Walker’s death, by mutual agreement—because of the high Depression-era taxes and upkeep—it was sold in 1932 to the Companions of the Forest, a women’s benevolent organization that had no black members. In 1993 Villa Lewaro was purchased by Harold Doley, an African American investment banker, and his wife, Helena.
The original Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company was sold by the Walker estate trustees in 1986. Today Madam Walker’s role as a pioneer of the multibillion-dollar hair care and cosmetics industry is best exemplified by the successful member companies of the Chicago-based American Health and Beauty Aids Institute, who recently welcomed her into their hall of fame. In 1998 Madam Walker was honored as the twenty-first subject of the U.S. Postal Service’s Black Heritage Series commemorative stamps. Madam Walker’s papers and letters are archived at the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis.