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William J. Walls Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: --
Date: Apr 1999



Biographical History

William J. Walls (1885-1975) was a Black American churchman and author.

Walls was born in Chimney Rock, North Carolina. He was recognized as an effective preacher at very young age, being ordained to the AME Zion ministry at the church's Hopkins Chapel in Asheville shortly after his 14th birthday. He graduated from Livingstone College and Hood Theological Seminary, after which he did graduate work at Columbia University and received an advanced degree from the University of Chicago.

Walls was an active member of the AME Zion Church, originally formed in 1796 in New York City in response to discrimination against Black members in the regular Methodist Church. Walls' home congregation was Thomas Memorial AME Zion in Watertown, New York, long known as an anti-slavery church; notable members included Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Katherine Harris,Jermaine Loguen, and Frederick Douglass.

Among his other duties, Walls served as senior bishop and secretary of the Board of Bishops and as chairman of the Board of Christian Education, Home and Church, and participated in Christian Education conventions on the denominational, national, international, and world levels. He was a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, the executive committee of the World Council of Methodism, and the General Assembly and General Board of the National Council of the Churches of Christ, and was the ecumenical spokesman for Zion Methodism.

In addition to his church activities, Wall was active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), serving on the Board of Directors and as vice president. He also found time to write, producing a biography of Joseph Charles Price, founder and first president of Livingstone College, and a definitive history of AME Zion entitled The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church: Reality of the Black Church (1974).

Speaking about Black theology, he said. "I don't know what it is. The less we try to reduce Jesus Christ to a segregated level or try to color Him, the better off we will be."


Scope and Contents of the Collection

The William J. Walls Papers consists of conference proceedings, correspondence-subject files, personal material, photographs, printed material, and writings.

Conference proceedings contains material from Methodist and AME Zion conferences at the regional and national level. The bulk are from the New England and Western New York Conferences.

Correspondence-subject files includes fellow churchmen, friends, family, organizations, and legislators at the local, state, and federal level. Much of this material reflects Walls' range of activities within the church, including church camps, schools, leadership conferences, and so on.

Personal material consists of material identified as such by Walls, e.g. items with "Personal" written in upper right corner, or contained in folder labeled "Personal." Included here are early photographs of Walls as a child and young man, programs from events at which he was a guest speaker or honoree, clippings about him, biographical sketches and lists of achievements. Also included here are items of correspondence with legislators at the state and national level which Walls deemed personal.

Most of the Photographs come from various events Walls was attending, speaking at, being honored, and so on. There are also photographs of at least two churches in Africa with which he was connected.

The bulk of Printed material consists of clippings about the AME Zion Church and its conferences, including many which mention, quote, or discuss Walls. There are also articles about civil rights, police brutality, political events, and jazz (Walls wrote an article on the "jazzing" of church music). The remainder of this series contains a few booklets, pamphlets, newsletters, and other random items.

Writings contains articles, books, booklets, Quadrennial Reports the General Conference of the AME Zion Church, sermons, speeches, and miscellaneous items. Of particular interest


Arrangement of the Collection

For the most part, Walls' original order, organization, and folder titles have been maintained. Conference proceedings are filed alphabetically by title of the conference and within that chronologically. Correspondence-subject files are filed alphabetically by the title given them by Walls, with the exception that some notable correspondents (e.g., Martin Luther King, Jr.) have been pulled out and given their own folders. Personal material has been filed alphabetically by the title given it by Walls, or by the simplest title we could deduce (e.g. Photographs). Photographs are arranged chronologically. Printed material is subdivided by type of material; clippings are further arranged chronologically. Writings are subdivided by type and then further arranged alphabetically by title.


Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.


Subject Headings

Persons

Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963.
Walls, William Jacob, 1885-1975.

Corporate Bodies

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church -- Clergy.
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
Livingstone College

Subjects

African American Methodists.
African American bishops.
African American clergy.
African Americans -- Biography.
Christian education.
Civil rights workers.
Clergy -- United States.
Methodist conferences.
Methodists -- United States.
Sermons, American.

Genres and Forms

Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Manuscript for publication.
Photographs.
Sermons.
Speeches (documents)

Occupations

Clergy.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

William J. Walls Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries


Table of Contents

Conference proceedings

Correspondence-subject files

Personal

Photographs

Printed material

Writings


Inventory