Today's episode features A'Lelia Bundles, the author of Joy Goddess: A'Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance. A'Lelia Bundles discusses her book "Joy Goddess," which chronicles the life of her great-great-grandmother Madam CJ Walker and great-grandmother A'Lelia Walker, correcting historical misconceptions by portraying A'Lelia as a significant supporter of the arts during the Harlem Renaissance rather than merely a socialite spending her mother's money. A'Lelia shares her decades-long research journey that began with family stories and evolved to include extensive archival research, emphasizing the importance of using primary sources and historical context in understanding the vibrant Black middle-class social scene in 1920s Harlem. The conversation highlights how A'Lelia Walker helped expand her mother's beauty business, hosted influential interracial gatherings at her home "The Dark Tower" and Villa Lewaro, and became an important but often overlooked figure in the cultural flowering of the Harlem Renaissance.


She is the founder of the Madam Walker Family Archives, the largest private collection of Walker photographs, memorabilia and ephemera. A’Lelia worked in network television news for thirty years, first at NBC News where she was a producer for news and magazine programs, and then at ABC News where she was a World News Tonight producer, Washington, DC deputy bureau chief and director of talent development. She is a former vice chair of Columbia University’s Board of Trustees and former board chair of the National Archives Foundation. She is a member of several boards that reflect her interests in history, journalism, political activism, social justice, the arts, and historic preservation including the March On! Festival, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women at Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Woodlawn Conservancy, GANGGANG, BIO (Biographers International), Indiana Landmarks, Columbia Global Reports and Indianapolis’s ReThink 65/70 Coalition.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.