(Note: This post was authored by Taylor McNeilly, Processing & Reference Archivist.) Processing a collection is always a fun exercise in observation: you always have to make sure you’re keeping a sharp eye out for information that might help researchers in the future. But sometimes the things you spot as a processing archivist can be less than helpful! For today’s #WyattWalkerWednesday, I talk about one such discovery I recently made in the Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection.

Often, processing a collection is a bit like working as a psychologist or therapist: you have to get inside the mind of the collection’s creator to figure out how they organized their material, why they organized it that way, and why they kept these specific things in the first place.  For much of Dr. Walker’s material, much of this is self-evident, especially in the case of the SCLC files. Most materials are in clearly labeled folders that often shed light on their contents, but occasionally I stumble across something with a little more mystery surrounding it.

Take, for instance, an empty folder I found among the other files. There were no materials in the folder, and the spot most often labeled was blank. Perhaps the folder was accidentally filed and never removed, or perhaps its contents were tossed at some point. Not a big deal, no reason to keep it. Until I went to flip the folder closed, when I discovered writing inside the flap.

Handwritten notes left on the inside of an empty folder.

I’ll admit that this text, written in what appears to be Dr. Walker’s hand, is almost meaningless without context. SCLC published several audio records, primarily on vinyl and mostly of Dr. King’s various sermons and speeches during SCLC events. It’s likely that Dr. Walker took these notes about one such record, but without knowing which record – and when this was written – this has almost no bearing on potential research. Which record, published by whom? Is the % mentioned the percentage of profits paid to SCLC by the publisher? What report is so inconceivable and why?

What I found most amusing, to be honest, was this use of the word “inconceivable.” While these notes were almost certainly written during Dr. Walker’s time at SCLC in the early 1960s, a full decade before The Princess Bride was published and almost 15 years before the popular film adaptation, my first thought was of Wallace Shawn proclaiming that line. In this case, however, I believe the word means exactly what Dr. Walker thought it means. And in his use of the word, as is the case in so much of his life, Dr. Walker was far ahead of the curve.

As always, please check back next Wednesday for another peek into the Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection, my processing progress, and some of the materials I find in my work!

(Note: This post was authored by Taylor McNeilly, Processing & Reference Archivist.) This #WyattWalkerWednesday I thought I would discuss some of the more immediately important documents I’ve come across recently while processing the manuscript portion of the Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection, namely the notes from the 1960 annual meeting.

This meeting, held in early August 1960, included a major brainstorm session about the purpose and direction of SCLC. At the time, the organization had no major nonviolent, direct action campaigns under its belt. This would change soon after the annual meeting, perhaps due in part to Dr. Walker’s influence.

A letter from Rev. Edward T. Graham to Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker discussing the annual meeting of August 1960.

The records we have from this annual meeting appear to have been sent by Rev. Edward T. Graham, who was the “Chairman of the Committee” at that time, to Dr. Walker some months later. Rev. Graham’s letter praises Dr. Walker for his work during the meeting, and offers the documents “so that you and your staff can get it right out.” Included is a typed list of resolutions, areas of concern in which SCLC can move forward by planning specific projects to address each one.

List of “areas of broad concern” created at the 1960 annual meeting of SCLC by the Committee on Resolutions.

This list of “areas of broad concern” is deeply foretelling of exactly what the SCLC would do over the coming years, including a dedication to non-violence, as is shown throughout their work; implementation of skills and techniques for non-violent protests, as seen in the training seminars they held for several years to train activists in nonviolent direction action; a major SCLC project in the “Hard Core South,” suggested in Montgomery but eventually held in Birmingham; and a focus on “the need for an all-out voter registration (major project)”, a project that they did in fact undertake.

What was most striking to me, however, was the “unequivocal support of “Sit-Ins” (all types – Kneel-Ins, etc.).” A kneel-in is a type of peaceful protest where black Christians would attend services at a church with an all-white church. But I had never heard the term kneel-in before reading this document, and so my first thought was not of churchgoing but of current political dissent that has been voiced by kneeling, especially that of Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem. Considering the Nike advertisement published earlier this week, I don’t think this association is surprising. And it does help to draw parallels between the SCLC’s work protesting the injustices of the ’60s and Kaepernick’s work protesting police brutality that disproportionately affects people of color in America today. Both SCLC and Kaepernick focus on nonviolent protest that attempts to capture a wide public audience to bring attention to the “areas of broad concern” being protested.

The materials documenting the 1960 annual meeting are deeply important to the history of SCLC, providing evidence of the beginning of their major push towards nonviolent direction action in the Deep South, voter registration, and training programs for new activists. This documentation also helps clearly define what SCLC stood for, what they supported, and how they viewed themselves as an organization at a time when they were about to become a major actor in national history. But these documents also provide a very real connection to the past that can help guide the present and the future as well.

What are your thoughts on the power of archival collections to connect the past, present, and future? Leave any comments you have below. And as always, please check back next week for another #WyattWalkerWednesday post on the Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection, its processing status, and what interesting finds I uncover as I move through the material.