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Whereas Dr. Walker received his bachelor’s degree in chem-
istry and physics and a Master of Divinity degree from 
Virginia Union University; 
Whereas, after graduating, Dr. Walker served as pastor at 
the Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia; 
Whereas Dr. Walker was instrumental in the civil rights 
movement in Virginia, serving as head of the Petersburg 
chapter of the National Association for the Advancement 
of Colored People (NAACP), State director of the Con-
gress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the founder of the 
Petersburg Improvement Association; 
Whereas, in 1959, Dr. Walker led a ‘‘Pilgrimage of Prayer’’ 
in Richmond, Virginia, against school segregation, which 
resulted in the passage of a resolution urging the ap-
pointment of a biracial commission to seek a solution to 
Virginia’s segregated school system; 
Whereas, in 1960, Dr. Walker and other African Americans 
protesting segregation were arrested and jailed after en-
tering through the ‘‘whites only’’ entrance of the Peters-
burg Public Library to check out a biography of Robert 
E. Lee; 
Whereas Dr. Walker’s bravery and leadership in the local 
struggle for equality and justice garnered the attention 
and respect of Dr. King; 
Whereas Dr. Walker served as Dr. King’s chief of staff in the 
early 
1960s, 
organizing 
landmark 
demonstrations 
throughout Alabama and the South; 
Whereas Dr. Walker served as the executive director of the 
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) from 
1960 to 1964, organizing numerous protests and dem-
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onstrations against segregation in Alabama which came 
to be known as Project C; 
Whereas, in May 1961, Dr. Walker was one of 11 leaders ar-
rested in Montgomery, Alabama, during the Freedom 
Riders protest; 
Whereas, in April 1963, Dr. Walker was instrumental in as-
sembling and distributing Dr. King’s famous ‘‘Letter 
from a Birmingham Jail’’, one of the most important and 
influential documents of the civil rights movement; 
Whereas, in August 1963, Dr. Walker was a key organizer 
of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the 
occasion of Dr. King’s ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech; 
Whereas Dr. Walker’s leadership of SCLC transformed it 
from a local grassroots organization into a national force 
in the civil rights movement; 
Whereas, following his time with SCLC, Dr. Walker served 
as senior pastor at Canaan Baptist Church of Christ in 
Harlem, New York City, for more than 30 years; 
Whereas Dr. Walker advocated for equality and justice in 
New York City, chairing the Consortium for Central Har-
lem Development and fighting for affordable housing, 
better schools, programs that reduce homelessness and 
hunger, and progress on other important issues; 
Whereas Dr. Walker served as advisor on urban affairs for 
then-New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller; 
Whereas Dr. Walker fought for justice and freedom abroad, 
forming the International Freedom Mobilization, a move-
ment to oppose apartheid and racial injustice in South 
Africa; 
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Whereas Dr. Walker helped supervise South Africa’s first 
fully representative elections in 1994, which resulted in 
Nelson Mandela becoming the country’s first post-apart-
heid president; 
Whereas Dr. Walker was the National Action Network’s first 
board chairman; 
Whereas Dr. Walker, a leader of marches, boycotts, and sit- 
ins, received countless awards and accolades in recogni-
tion of his life’s work standing up to injustice and in-
equality, including induction into the International Civil 
Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King, Jr., 
National Historic Site, being named one of the ‘‘Greatest 
Black Preachers’’ by Ebony magazine, and receiving the 
‘‘Keepers of the Flame’’ Award at the African American 
Church Inaugural Ball during the inauguration events for 
President Barack Obama; 
Whereas Dr. Walker’s courage, conviction, and strength of 
character had an indelible impact on the Commonwealth 
of Virginia and the country; 
Whereas Dr. Walker passed away on January 23, 2018, in 
Chester, Virginia; and 
Whereas Dr. Walker is survived by his wife, four children, 
one sister, and two grandchildren: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) honors the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Wyatt 
Tee Walker, a civil rights icon, humanitarian, theolo-
gian, pastor, and cultural historian; and 
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(2) expresses its deepest sympathies to his fam-
ily on his passing. 
Æ 
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