Explore Black History

1987

This film was a part of the Washington D.C. Public Library's circulating 16mm film collection housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Library. The collection is particularly noted for the wide variety of African American and African diaspora content.

A documentary film with the title Two Dollars and a Dream. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm polyester film with optical sound.
Through the use of archival still photographs, interviews, and voiceover narration, the documentary tells the tale of Madam C. J. Walker’s rise to prominence as America's first self-made female millionaire. The documentary opens with a discussion of Walker's early life as a child of slaves who was married at fourteen and widowed by the time she turned twenty (20) years old.
Other topics discussed in the film include the creation of the Walker Company; Mrs. Walker's marketing strategies in black churches; criticisms levied at Walker and her company for "whitening" black hair; her philanthropic endeavors, including donations to the anti-lynching movement; the establishment of Villa Lewaro as her place of residence; her death and last will and testament; film footage of the Walker building erected in Indianapolis after Walker's death, as well as the significance of some of the stores inside, such as the Coffee Pot and the Walker Theatre; her daughter A'Lelia Walker's life as a prominent African American heiress and socialite; as well as A'Lelia Walker’s Dark Tower in Harlem, New York. The film concludes with a discussion of A'Lelia Walker’s final years, the decline of the Walker fortune and the impact of The Great Depression on African American life.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

DC Public Library Film Collection

Time-based Media - Audio

Anti-Lynching Movement

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library

National Museum of African American History and Culture

2017.55.87.1a

documentaries
sound films
color films (visual works)
16mm (photographic film size)

Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

polyester film

Duration: 47 Minutes
Length (Film): 1700 Feet

Title • Two Dollars and a Dream

nmaahc_2017.55.87.1a

NMAAHC

TWO DOLLARS AND A DREAM

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

1980s

Nelson, Stanley • Walker, A'Lelia • Fisher, Peg • Johnson, Nettie • D.C. Public Library • Joyner, Marjorie Stewart • Filmakers Library Inc. • Walker, Madam C.J. • Nelson, Jill • Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company

New York City • District of Columbia • Harlem • New York County • United States • North and Central America • Marion County • Washington • Indianapolis

Economics • Women • Anti-Lynching Movement • Activism • Black Enterprise • Segregation • Beauty culture • Family • Advertising • Documentary films • Business

City • Washington • State • District of Columbia • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America • City • Indianapolis • County • Marion County • State • Indiana • Locale • Harlem • City • New York City • County • New York County • State • New York

color films (visual works) • 16mm (photographic film size) • Documentaries • sound films

Restrictions Likely