(Note: This post was authored by Taylor McNeilly, Processing & Reference Archivist.) The Wyatt Tee Walker Symposium originally scheduled for Thursday, September 13 and canceled due to Hurricane Florence has now been officially rescheduled! I’ll take this week’s #WyattWalkerWednesday post to discuss some details and how it pertains to the Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection.
Originally announced during the second memorial held in honor of Dr. Walker at Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, VA by President Crutcher, the Wyatt Tee Walker Symposium will consist of a panel of speakers, a keynote address, and a special preview exhibition of materials from the collection. Since its announcement, the event has become the first major event of UR’s School of Arts & Sciences yearlong theme of Contested Spaces: Race, Nation, and Conflict. The event is hosted by the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, and the School of Arts & Sciences.
The panel will consist of four speakers: Corey Walker, Vice President, Dean and Professor of Religion and Society at Virginia Union University; Chris Dorsey, President of Higher Education & Leadership Ministries of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ; Laura Browder, Professor of American Studies; and Thad Williamson, Associate Professor of Leadership Studies and Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law. Each panelist brings a different area of expertise that Dr. Walker’s life has touched on, including activism, theology, civil rights, urban development, and more. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Joseph Evans, Dean of the Morehouse School of Religion and Senior Pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Dr. Evans was also a Walker Scholar and close friend of Dr. and Mrs. Walker. He also conducted our oral history with the Walkers in 2016, which is believed to be the final recorded interview with Dr. Walker.
To support this symposium and help provide some material context for the life and work of Dr. Walker, Boatwright Library Rare Books and Special Collections will be putting on a short “sneak preview” of the collection. This will include manuscript material as well as objects from the collection highlighting the work Dr. Walker did throughout his life. If you have any interest in what the collection holds and are in the area, this is a fantastic chance to get a quick look into the collection!
Besides this post, you can get additional details about the symposium – and register to attend the panel, keynote, or both – on the Wyatt Tee Walker Symposium webpage. And in the meantime, keep an eye on this space for more information about the Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection, my progress in processing it, and what else the Rare Books and Special Collections is up to!