Guide to the Mildred Pitts Walter Papers
Sean Heyliger
African American Museum & Library at Oakland
659 14th Street
Oakland, California 94612
Phone: (510) 637-0198
Fax: (510) 637-0204
Email: aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org
URL: http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/locations/african-american-museum-library-oakland
© 2013
African American Museum & Library at Oakland. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Mildred Pitts Walter Papers
Collection number: MS 217
African American Museum & Library at Oakland
Oakland, California
- Processed by:
- Sean Heyliger
- Date Completed:
- 2017-10-21
- Encoded by:
- Sean Heyliger
© 2013 African American Museum & Library at Oakland. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Mildred Pitts Walter papers
Dates: 1963-1968
Collection number: MS 217
Creator:
Walter, Mildred Pitts
Creator:
Congress of Racial Equality. Los Angeles Chapter.
Collection Size:
.25 linear feet
(1 box)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Abstract: The Mildred Pitts Walter papers document Mildred and Earl Walter’s participation in civil rights protests in Los Angeles in
the 1960s as part of the Los Angeles branch of the Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) and as parents at Manual Arts High
School.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Access Restrictions
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Publication Rights
Permission to publish from the Mildred Pitts Walter Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at
Oakland.
Preferred Citation
Mildred Pitts Walter papers , MS 217, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
Acquisition Information
Collection donated to the African American Museum & Library at Oakland by Mildred Pitts Walter on October 10, 2017.
Processing Information
Processed by Sean Heyliger, Archivist, October 21, 2017.
Biography / Administrative History
Author, activist, and educator Mildred Pitts Walter (1922- ) was born in Sweetville, Louisiana in 1922 to Paul Pitts, a lumberman,
and Mary Ward Pitts and raised in southwestern Louisiana near DeRidder, Louisiana. After graduating from Southern University
in 1944, she followed her sister to Longview, Washington to work in the shipyards during World War II and shortly thereafter
moved to Los Angeles, California. In Los Angeles, she gained her teaching certificate at California State University allowing
her to work as an elementary school teacher and met her husband Earl Lloyd Walter, a fellow graduate of Southern University,
at a Methodist church event. They both became active members of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality
(C.O.R.E.) fighting for fair employment and fair housing. They picketed banks, retail stores, and other businesses in central
Los Angeles that were not hiring non-whites for non-menial positions. Earl Walter served as the chapter’s branch chairman
and they sued builders that would not sell houses to non-white homebuyers and led voter registration drives and de-segregation
efforts in the American South.
As a teacher, she noticed that many of her African American students had few books that were written that allowed to see themselves
as protagonists. With the encouragement of a Los Angeles publisher, she published her first book in 1969,
Lillie of Watts, a birthday discovery, which told the story of a young black girl from the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. After the success
of her first book, she published a sequel, Lillie of Watts Takes a Giant Step (1971), and would publish a total of 22 books
for young adult audiences. Many of her books focused on helping children understand the history and struggle of blacks for
equality and include award-winning books
Girl on the Outside (1982),
Trouble’s Child (1985), and
Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World (1986). Her books have been awarded the American Library Association’s Coretta Scott King Book Award, the Christopher Award,
Parents’ Choice Award for Literature, and has twice been awarded the National Council for the Social Studies’ Carter G. Woodson
Book Award.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Mildred Pitts Walter papers document Mildred and Earl Walter’s participation in civil rights protests in Los Angeles in
the 1960s as part of the Los Angeles branch of the Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) and as parents at Manual Arts High
School. The collection is organized into five series: I. Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) II. Manual Arts High School
(Los Angeles, Calif.) III. Earl Lloyd Walter funeral program IV. Photographs V. Anti-Black Defamation League. The C.O.R.E.
materials consist of legal documents filed in the Superior Court of the State of California seeking an injunction and compensation
from four Los Angeles home builders that discriminated against non-white homebuyers, a C.O.R.E. pamphlet on segregation in
Los Angeles and one issue of the CORE-lator newsletter. The Manual Arts High School (Los Angeles, Calif.) series includes
legal documents, photographs, flyers, and press releases documenting students and parents’ 1965 struggle against the Los Angeles
Board of Education to build a new boys basketball gymnasium comparable to other all-white schools in the district. Also included
in the collection is a press release of the Anti-Black Defamation League opposing the film adaptation of William Styron’s
novel The Confessions of Nat Turner, on the grounds that its depiction of Turner was inaccurate and insensitive.
Arrangement
I. Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.)
II. Manual Arts High School (Los Angeles, Calif.)
III. Earl Lloyd Walter funeral program
IV. Photographs
V. Anti-Black Defamation League
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Congress of Racial Equality. Los Angeles Chapter.
Manual Arts High School (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Civil rights movements--California--History--20th century.
Discrimination in housing--California.
Other Finding Aids
Mildred Pitts Walter Papers, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Related Material
Mildred Pitts Walter oral history interview conducted by David P. Cline in San Mateo, California, 2013-03-01. Civil Rights
History Project collection (AFC 2010/039), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.)
Physical Description: 1 folder
Series Scope and Content Summary
Includes legal documents filed in the Superior Court of the State of California seeking an injunction and compensation from
four Los Angeles home builders that discriminated against non-white homebuyers, a C.O.R.E. pamphlet on segregation in Los
Angeles and one issue of the CORE-lator newsletter
Arrangement
Arranged by format.
Box 1:1
“Segregated schools in Los Angeles,” prepared by Education Committee Los Angeles CORE Kenneth B. Fry chairman
1963
Box 1:1
No. 822908 Complaint for injunction and damages, Kilkenny Homes Corp., a corporation, Overstone Homes Inc., a corporation,
Iliad Homes Corp., a corporation and Altena Two Homes, a corporation plaintiffs vs. Julian Heicklen et. al. Congress of Racial
Equality (C.O.R.E.), Superior Court of the State of California for the county of Los Angeles
1963
Box 1:1
CORE-lator, no. 107
1964-07
Manual Arts High School (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Physical Description: 1 folder
Series Scope and Content Summary
Includes legal documents, photographs, flyers, and press releases documenting students and parents’ 1965 struggle against
the Los Angeles Board of Education to build a new boys basketball gymnasium comparable to other all-white schools in the district.
Arrangement
Arranged by format.
Box 1:2
Collateral agreement between Kenneth E. Huckaby et. al. and the Board of Education Los Angeles School District
1965-03-02
Box 1:2
Manual Arts High School Dedication Committee, boys’ gymnasium minutes
1968-03-01
Box 1:2
Loan approval report
1968-03-01
Box 1:2
Memorandum from Guardian General Agency to Marnesba T. Tackett, subject: injunction bond
1965-03-04
Box 1:2
“Mills lauds Manual Arts High School parent’s victory,” Office of Billy G. Mills councilman, eighth district press release
(two copies)
1966-11-04
Box 1:2
“A gymnasium won for the people by the people,”
circa 1960s
Box 1:2
Affidavit in support of a temporary restraining order, Kenneth E. Huckaby, a minor, by and through his guardian ad litem plaintiffs
vs. Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District of Los Angeles County defendant (three copies)
1965-02-09
Box 1:2
No. 854187 Complaint for declaratory judgment and injunction, Kenneth E. Huckaby et.al. plaintiffs vs. Board of Education
of the Los Angeles Unified School District of Los Angeles County defendant
circa 1965
Box 1:2
MAD POTT (Manual Arts District Parents or Taxpayers and Trust) flyer (three copies)
circa 1960s
Box 1:2
Los Angeles City Board of Education report of correspondence
1965-02-15
Box 1:2
Collection of funds to influence fight for new gymnasium equal to gymnasiums at all-white school in Los Angeles School District
press release
1965-02-22
Box 1:2
Comments by Mr. Richard T. Cooper at the special building committee meeting,augmented, subject: rehabilitation of the Manual
Arts Gymnasium (two copies)
1965-01-25
Box 1:2
Invitation to dedication of boys’ gymnasium
1968-03-31
Box 1:2
Dedication of boys’ gymnasium program (two copies)
1968-03-31
Box 1:2
Newspaper clippings
1963-1966 and undated
Box 1:3
Earl Lloyd Walter funeral program
1965-06-18
Physical Description: 1 item
Photographs
Physical Description: 10 photographs
Series Scope and Content Summary
Includes ten photographs documenting Los Angeles Branch of Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) and MAD POTT's (Manual Arts
District Parents or Taxpayers and Trust)struggle for a new basketball gymnasium at Manual Arts High School (Los Angeles, Calif.).
Arrangement
Arranged by photograph identification number.
Box 1:4
Earl Walter wearing “Call off the dogs, JFK! CORE” protest sign [001]
circa 1960s
Box 1:4
Protesters marching in the Medgar Evers CORE memorial march Southpark Los Angeles, California [002]
circa 1960s
Box 1:4
Mildred Walter (third from right) standing with group of men and women in front of Manual Arts High School gymnasium exhibit
[003]
circa 1960s
Box 1:4
Manual Arts High School gymnasium “A gymnasium of the people and by the people” exhibit [004 A-B]
circa 1960s
Box 1:4
Manual Arts High School gymnasium trophy case [005 A-B]
circa 1960s
Box 1:4
Manual Arts High School gymnasium trophy case [006 A-C]
circa 1960s
Box 1:4
Manual Arts High School map and citizen petition [007]
circa 1960s
Box 1:4
MAD POTT (Manual Arts District Parents or Taxpayers and Trust) collection box and sign [008]
circa 1960s
Box 1:4
Mildred Walter (second right) holding MAD POTT (Manual Arts District Parents or Taxpayers and Trust) collection sign with
three women in front of the Manual Arts High School gymnasium [009]
circa 1960s
Box 1:4
Mildred Walter (third right) holding MAD POTT (Manual Arts District Parents or Taxpayers and Trust) collection sign with three
women in front of the Manual Arts High School gymnasium [010]
circa 1960s
Box 1:5
Anti-Black Defamation League LeRoi Jones & Godfrey Cambridge join others in protesting Nat Turner book press release
circa 1960s
Physical Description: 1 item
Series Scope and Content Summary
Includes Anti-Black Defamation League press release opposing the film adaptation of William Styron’s novel The Confessions
of Nat Turner, on the grounds that its depiction of Turner was inaccurate and insensitive.