Oral history interview with William Walker
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 8 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Walker, William, 1927-
label: Interviewer
content: Sorell, V. A. (Victor A)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Muralists -- Illinois -- Chicago
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Illinois -- Chicago
label: Topic
content: Public art -- United States
label: Topic
content: African American artists
label: Topic
content: African American painters
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Walker, William, 1927-
label: Interviewer
content: Sorell, V. A. (Victor A)
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: William Walker (1927- ) is an Afroican American mural painter from Chicago, Illinois.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 111 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1991 June 12-14
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.walker91
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Reproduction Note
content: Duplicate copy of transcript available at the Art Institute of Chicago Ryerson/Burnham Libraries.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of William Walker conducted 1991 June 12-14, by Victor Sorell, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Walker discusses his childhood in Birmingham, Alabama and Chicago, Illinois; painting murals in Memphis; the Chicago Mural Group, the Wall of Respect in Chicago, the Wall of Dignity in Detroit and other murals; subject matter and use of black historical figures such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Elijah Muhammad; use of narrative; public response to the murals; and artists he worked with including Eugene Edaw, Mark Rogovin, John Weber and Mitchell Caton.