The Hermione House: Where Madam Walker's Story Begins

The Hermione House in Tallulah is one of only four antebellum structures still standing in Madison Parish. It was built around eighteen fifty-three on the Kell Plantation in Greek Revival style, confiscated by Union forces during the Vicksburg campaign and used as a federal hospital, which is likely why it survived when so many neighboring homes did not.

The house is now headquarters for the Madison Historical Society. Among its exhibits is one devoted to Madam C.J. Walker, who was born Sarah Breedlove in eighteen sixty-seven in nearby Delta, Louisiana, the first member of her family born free. She went on to build a hair care business empire for Black women, and Guinness World Records lists her as the first American woman to become a self-made millionaire. The Delta of Louisiana, in other words, gave the country one of its great entrepreneurial stories.