GEOFF BENNETT: In her new book, award-winning# journalist and historian A'Lelia Bundles## brings to life one of the most fascinating and# misunderstood figures of the early 20th century.

A'Lelia Walker, daughter of Madam C.J.# Walker and heiress to a beauty empire,## was more than a glamorous socialite.# She was a cultural catalyst whose## salons and soirees became the vibrant# center of the Harlem Renaissance.

Drawing on meticulous research and rare family# Archives, Bundles, who is Madam Walker's## great-great granddaughter, offers a vivid portrait# filled with music, arts, politics and joy.

I spoke with her about the book "Joy Goddess:# A'Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance."

A'Lelia Bundles, welcome to the "News Hour."

A'LELIA BUNDLES, Author, "Joy Goddess: A'Lelia# Walker and the Harlem Renaissance": Delighted## to be with you, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: It's great to have you here.

You have spent decades preserving the#.. Madam C.J.

Walker.

You have# written four books about her.## What made you shift your focus# to her daughter, A'Lelia Walker?

A'LELIA BUNDLES: You know, I really# wanted to write about A'Lelia Walker## first.

I wrote about her for a# report in high school in 1970.

And she fascinated me because she knew about# all of the Harlem Renaissance actors and## writers who I loved learning about.

But Madam# Walker's story really had to be told first.

GEOFF BENNETT: And it strikes me there# are scholars who have dismissed her as## a socialite who played bridge, who did# little more than spend the money that her## mother made.

What did you discover# about her as you did the research?

A'LELIA BUNDLES: Really, she had been caricatured.

And what I discovered was a really charismatic# woman, one of the original influencers,## I think a social impresario, who walked# into a room with all of her charisma,## and I think who had a gift for bringing people# together.

She could bring together her friends## from downtown, her friends from uptown,# her European friends, her African friends,## people who were in the arts,# people who were in business.

And there were very few people who both had that## circle of friends and who had# the personality to carry it off.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, you write in the book# that she was the woman Harlem needed.

She## was stylish.

She was ambitious.# She was unapologetically herself.

How did her persona and public image influence how# many Black women saw themselves during that time?

A'LELIA BUNDLES: Well, people were# fascinated by Madam C.J.

Walker,## A'Lelia Walker's mother.

She represented success# in business, and her daughter was really the## first Black celebrity heiress, somebody# who could live her life fully and freely.

There were -- this was a time when African# Americans were really emerging into## urban areas.

It was two generations out of# slavery, when people were really still finding## their way.

But now there was an educated# middle-class group of professional African## Americans.

And she was the person who was# kind of at the center of the social scene.

GEOFF BENNETT: The center of it.

I mean, she# was a fixture of the Harlem Renaissance.

She## was a patron of the arts, as you say.

You# describe her salons and her parties as these## vibrant spaces of cross-racial exchange.# Why was she so intentional about that?

A'LELIA BUNDLES: I think we take# for granted now that we can have## gatherings, social gatherings, that are very# racially integrated, that are international.

She welcomed her queer and straight friends# equally.

And I think that this is the kind of## thing.

She was one of the people who made this# comfortable.

She wanted everybody to be there.## And now we think that's not something that's# unusual, but it was really quite unusual then.

GEOFF BENNETT: Tell me about the grand townhouse# she had on -- it was West 136th Street, the Dark## Tower.

And you have some archival materials that# sort of illustrate how incredible that space was.

A'LELIA BUNDLES: Exactly.

needed to have a business presence.# Their business was headquartered in## Indianapolis.

But New York was# the media capital of the world.## It was becoming the Black cultural and# political mecca for African Americans.

And she said, we need to be there.

And# so she persuaded her mother to buy a## townhouse.

It became a double townhouse# with a beautiful facade.

And, in 1927,## A'Lelia Walker converted a floor of that# townhouse into what became known as the## Dark Tower.

It was a cultural salon,# where the musicians and writers and## artists and actors mingled with patrons# and mingled with other social people.

So I actually have the original invitation# from the Dark Tower.

A'Lelia Walker had## invited people to come to the Dark Tower.

She# and the mother of the artist Romare Bearden,## Bessye Bearden, and A'Lelia Walker met in# the spring of 1927 with Langston Hughes,## Wallie Thurman, Countee Cullen, Richard Nugent.

GEOFF BENNETT: Wow.

A'LELIA BUNDLES:.. what is it that you would like?

How can we# help promote the work of these young writers?

And they came up with this# idea for the Dark Tower,## named it after Countee Cullen's poem "From# the Dark Tower."

And in October of 1927,## hundreds of people lined up outside to come# to this place.

And this says -- it was,## "We dedicate this tower to the aesthetes," to# the young writers and artists and musicians.

And it was really quite unusual for# them to be able to have this space,## in addition to the invitation, which shows# a picture of a bookcase that was designed## like a tower, like a skyscraper.

I also have# the original menu, "A Feast for the Muses."

And one of my favorite things is A'Lelia Walker# Iced Tea.

Now, this was prohibition.

So I don't## know what went in the iced tea, but I do know that# A'Lelia Walker had a flask, a monogrammed flask.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that's her flask.

A'LELIA BUNDLES:.. flasks.

And so we can just imagine what# went into that A'Lelia Walker Iced Tea.

GEOFF BENNETT: How did her role# as a convener and a patron help## shape the cultural and political# course of the Harlem Renaissance?

A'LELIA BUNDLES: People saw A'Lelia# Walker as kind of the personification## of Black business success and of an# heiress, that she was the one who had## the great party.

She was the one who# people kind of fantasized about being.

And because she had such a gregarious, open# personality, she wasn't a snob with that money.## She was a person who welcomed people in.

And that# meant all of the people who were creating culture,## who were creating music, and the people who loved# to have a good time wanted to be in her sphere.

One society columnist said that people flocked# to her like bees flocked to honey.

And another## one said that, when she was having a party,# she would get on the phone and she would say,## darling, I'm having a party tonight.

And it# wouldn't be the same without you.

Absolutely not.

And then people wanted to be in her party# so much, the plus one became the plus two,## the plus three, the plus four.

So# they were always really crowded.

GEOFF BENNETT: And yet there's this recurring# tension in this book between who she really was## and how she was perceived.

How did she navigate# the expectations that were placed upon her?

A'LELIA BUNDLES: Yes, well, the title Joy# Goddess comes from Langston Hughes' memoir,## "The Big Sea," where he called# her the Joy Goddess of Harlem's## 1920s because of her personality# and because of her great parties.

But there is an irony in that Joy Goddess, because# while she was the one who created joy for a lot## of people, there were also moments in her own# life with a lot of heartache and with a lot of## disappointment.

People always compared her to# her mother.

Of course, she could not live up to## this larger-than-life icon, this business# entrepreneur that Madam C.J.

Walker was.

So she was trying to carve out her# own identity.

And A'Lelia Walker was## trying to both blend the work that she# was supposed to do as president of the## Madam C.J.

Walker Manufacturing Company# after her mother's death with her own## desire to be a patron of the arts, to advance# culture and to celebrate the young creatives.

GEOFF BENNETT: The book is "Joy# Goddess: A'Lelia Walker and the## Harlem Renaissance," its author, A'Lelia Bundles.

It's so good to see you.

A'LELIA BUNDLES: Always good# to see you, full circle.