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Ann B. Walker

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Ann B. Walker
BornNovember 1, 1923 Edit this on Wikidata
Columbus Edit this on Wikidata
Alma mater
OccupationJournalist, entrepreneur, radio personality, editor, columnist, community organizer Edit this on Wikidata
Employer

Ann B. Walker (born November 1, 1923) is an American journalist, editor, radio personality, and businesswoman. She is most notable for being the first woman broadcaster to report on the Ohio legislature for NBC4 and later becoming the first woman in broadcast management in the city's and stations' history.[1][2][3] She was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame as the first woman broadcaster to report on the Ohio Legislature in 1978.[2] She is also the first Black woman from Franklin County to receive a presidential appointment.[1][3]

Personal life

On November 1, 1923, Walker was born in Columbus, Ohio.[2] Her mother died when Walker was 6 years old and she was raised by her father.[4] She had 5 brothers.[5]

She married Linwood B. Walker.[2] They had two children and lived on the North Side of Columbus; however, their home was demolished to build Interstate 71.[4] Her daughter is Julialynne Walker.[3]

Education

She graduated high school from East High School.[6][7] She attended Prairie View A&M College in Texas on a tennis scholarship before receiving her Bachelor's degree from George Williams College in 1944.[7][4]

Career

Walker began working at the Ohio Sentinel – one of Columbus' first Black newspapers – as journalist, editor and columnist in 1949.[1][2][6][3][8][9] One of her best known column was called "Ann Walker's Party Line."[2][6]

In 1952, she worked as assistant news director, community services director and the on-air host of the "Ann Walker Show" and "Youth Speaks" for the Columbus radio station WVKO-AM.[2][7]

In 1970,[10] Walker served as a Columbus Consumer Protection Committee member.[2][11]

Later in the 1970s, she began working at the Columbus' WLWC (now WCMH-TV) radio station where she had interviewed Martin Luther King Jr., Angela Davis, and Jimmy Carter when he was the democratic presidential candidate.[1][12][13] It was at WLWC that she became the first woman in broadcast management at the station.[2][7]

In 1980, she became the creator and host of WCMH-TV's new public affairs program. That same year, President Jimmy Carter appointed Walker as special assistant to the director of The White House Public Affairs Office.[1][2][6][12][3][13] She became the first Black woman from Franklin County to receive a presidential appointment.[1]

Walker went on to establish her own company in 1991 that was called Ann B. Walker and Associates.[2][7]

Affiliations

She served on the boards of the Columbus Area Leadership Laboratory, Columbus Planned Parenthood, Columbus Metropolitan Club, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, and the Leukemia Society.[6][9] She was the first Black woman to serve on the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Board.[9]

She is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and served as the 24th Alpha Sigma Omega Chapter President in Columbus, Ohio.[2] She was a ruling elder at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Columbus as well.[2]

Legacy

In 2000, she was featured in "Who's who in Black Central Ohio."[14][9] In honor of her late husband, Walker helped establish the Linwood B. Walker Scholarship in 2004.[6][9]

In 2021, a plaza located in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood was dedicated to Walker by the city of Columbus.[1][3][15] She is also featured on the Long Street Cultural Wall.[1][3][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Columbus' Ann B. Walker, journalist and trailblazer, turns 99". NBC4 WCMH-TV. 2022-11-02. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Ann B. Walker". www.columbus.gov. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Columbus Icon Ann B. Walker Fills Her Franklin Park Home with Art from Her Travels". Columbus Monthly. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  4. ^ a b c "Black Out: Ann Walker's home razed for highway". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  5. ^ "Plaza at new Columbus apartment complex named for local Black icon Ann B. Walker". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "The Life and Times of Ann B. Walker". Columbus Monthly. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Ann B. Walker's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  8. ^ "Ohio Sentinel August 25 – September 1, 1951". digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org. Ohio Sentinel. 1 September 1951. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Cranbrook Students Welcome Local Living Legend in Honor of Women's History Month". www.ccsoh.us. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  10. ^ "Finding Aid to The HistoryMakers Video Oral History with Ann B. Walker" (PDF). www.thehistorymakers.org. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Ann B. Walker". digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  12. ^ a b Wiggins, Leticia (2020-02-27). "A Journalist's Journey To The White House". news.wosu.org. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  13. ^ a b "KAC_1966_04_02_02A_01". digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  14. ^ Who's who in Black Central Ohio. Who's Who Publishing Company. 2000. p. 147. ISBN 0963457926.
  15. ^ "Columbus' Bronzeville neighborhood honored for its Black history and legacy". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
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