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New Kansas Library To Be Named For Civil Rights Leader Ronald Walters

New Kansas Library To Be Named For Civil Rights Leader Ronald Walters

Ronald W. Walters
New Kansas Library To Be Named For Civil Rights Leader Ronald Walters. Photo Flickr via Merrill College of Journalism

The newest library in Wichita, Kansas will be named for civil rights icon and internationally renowned scholar Dr. Ronald W. Walters. The city council voted 5-1 for the building to bear Walters’ name after hearing from his widow, Patricia Walters, The Wichita Eagle reported.

“He was an intellectual, he was an activist and President Clinton, President Obama and President Carter all looked to him,” Patricia Walters said. “And I think that he’s beyond, almost, Kansas, although he has not lost his roots. He loved his home.”

Walters’ storied life as an activist began when he was very young. He organized and led the sit-ins at the lunch counter at Dockum Drugstore in 1958 to protest systemic racism.

He and his fellow activists persisted for three weeks until the owner relented and served them. This was two years before the more famous sit-ins at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina – which is incorrectly credited with starting the sit-in movement.

Upon graduating from high school, Walters attended Fisk university, where he majored in history. After graduating in 1963, he went on to earn a master’s in African Studies and doctorate in international studies from American University in 1966 and 1971, respectively.

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He became a political science professor at Howard University, ultimately rising up the ranks to chair the department then directed the African American Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland.

Walters also authored 10 books, managed both of Rev. Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaigns, co-founded non-profit TransAfrica to help African nations and was handpicked by President Bill Clinton to monitor South Africa’s first multiracial elections after Apartheid was abolished.

“(Clinton) indicated he knew he would get an outstanding report and that Ron knew the lay of the land, that Ron personally knew Nelson Mandela, and that he would be the ideal person to achieve this,” Patricia Walters said.

When Walters died in Maryland in 2010 at 72, Kansas’ then Gov. Sam Brownback sent Patricia a letter stating, “On September 10, 2010, our nation lost a true American hero, and Kansas lost one of its most glorious native sons, Dr. Ronald W. Walters.”

Initially, there were 70 names recommended to the council for the to consider as the library’s namesake. The final handful included former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer. Ultimately, Walters’ name was decided upon.