MATTEL created a BARBIE doll to honor U.S. history's first self-made Black female millionaire

Since 2018, Mattel has produced 12 different Barbie dolls as part of the toy brand's “Inspiring Women” series. The most recent addition to that line arrived in August: the Madam C.J. Walker Barbie Doll. Madam C.J. Walker—born in 1867, just two years after the Civil War put an end to slavery in America—was the first U.S. Black woman to become a millionaire. She attained that status by producing beauty products made expressly for Black women (the company she founded is still going strong under the banner of Madam by Madam C.J. Walker). As part of the campaign surrounding the Madam C.J. Walker Barbie, Mattel is sending a portion of the doll's sales until Oct. 1 to U.S. rural education nonprofit Save the Children.