(Note: This post was authored by Taylor McNeilly, Processing & Reference Archivist.) Sometimes while processing an archival collection, the archivist will come across some unexpected items. Typically when donating a collection, the donors are expected to sign something called a deed of gift, which outlines what is being donated and what rights are being included (copyright, for instance). While this can be viewed as a legal document protecting the interests of both parties, it also helps the archives and archivist know what they’re getting in the collection.
However, most deeds of gift aren’t entirely exhaustive in their inventorying of a new collection, although if it’s a small enough collection it might be. With a collection as large as the Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection, the inventory was long but not exhaustive. Because of this, I’m always coming across material that isn’t expressly detailed in the deed of gift. Most of this is material you’d expect, and some of it I’ve talked about in previous posts. For this week’s #WyattWalkerWednesday, I want to mention some materials I’ve recently found while processing the collection that were a bit more unexpected.
The Walker Collection has a multitude of photographs, and we knew when it was donated that there would be some surprises hidden away in the masses. Dr. Walker was a photographer himself, and because of his pivotal role in multiple political movements, he was also often the subject of photography as well. Many of these latter photographs were well known and individually listed in the deed of gift inventory, but some seem to have slipped through unnoticed. One of these that I recently found is a photograph of a young Dr. Walker shaking hands with Richard Nixon.
There seems to be very little information on when or why Dr. Walker met with Nixon, but based on the relative ages of both men, our best guess is that it was during Nixon’s run as Vice President under Eisenhower. Nixon was Vice President 1953-1961, so whatever Dr. Walker was meeting with him over would have occurred early in his time working on the Civil Rights Movement, potentially before he began working with SCLC and Martin Luther King, Jr. While Nixon did take a public stand against school segregation in 1954, there seems to be no record of Nixon and Dr. Walker meeting. Where has this mysterious photo come from, and what other clues might we someday learn about this seemingly forgotten day in history?
The Walkers also donated dozens of posters and large size photographs as part of the collection, and many of these came to Boatwright Library unframed and stacked together in boxes, exactly as they were packed to be shipped. This is nothing unusual, but while recently going through a box that we thought was full of duplicate posters for a theatrical production based on the Freedom Rides in which both Dr. Walker and Mrs. Walker participated, I came across some items I did not expect: holiday decorations for Valentine’s Day and Easter.
Holiday decorations discovered in the Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection.
These decorations are store bought, mass produced, and hold absolutely no bearing on the Walker Collection or any real insight into the lives of the Walkers (besides that they had large decorations for holidays, probably used to hang on the front door), but they are a cheerful and fun surprise to find in the box. It’s no surprise that, as a pastor of a Baptist church, Dr. Walker had decorations for a holiday as important to Christians as Easter. But how lucky to have discovered them just in time for Valentine’s Day as well!
As always, I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s peek into processing the Walker Collection! We continue posting material on Boatwright Library’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts as well, so check those out, too. Otherwise, we’ll see you back here next week!