Sara Baird, an assistant in the Libraries’ Technical Services department, has recently begun augmenting her duties cataloging physical objects for the online catalog with creating metadata records for digital objects in the Iowa Digital Library. In the process of describing and providing access to archival materials in the digital collections, she’s gained no small expertise on some of their subjects, including Iowa-born librarian and activist Esther Walls.

The University of Iowa’s Iowa Women’s Archives contains a collection of letters, articles and photographs chronicling the life of alumna and Iowa native, Esther Walls. The Iowa Digital Library has scanned much of this collection to provide more accessibility and to promote the diversity of materials available in the Archives.

Mason City is the small Iowa city where Esther Jean Walls grew up and returned to see her family over the years. Born in 1926, Walls attended public schools and junior college in Mason City before coming to The University of Iowa in Iowa City. While at The University of Iowa, she was one of the first African American students to live in Currier Hall in 1946. Also during her time in Iowa City, Walls was very active in the Greek social life at The University as well as singing at the First Methodist Church.

Attending the University of Iowa was the doorway to an adventurous life for Esther Walls. She was encouraged to go to library school in New York after finishing her undergraduate degree. Some her first few years as a librarian were spent in the New York Public Library branches, especially in Harlem, where she specialized in serving young adults. At the Countee Cullen Branch, she organized and moderated panels such as “The Role of the Black Writer” and “The Role of the Black Artist”, meeting famous people such as Chinua Achebe. During this time in New York, she also rubbed elbows with Allen Ginsburg and hosted house parties with writers, musicians, artists and many scholars.

Many artifacts in the collection highlight other stages in Walls’ career. In the 1960s, she worked for the Franklin Book Program. During this time, she travelled to Africa on four separate occasions, to promote literacy and international publishing relations. In the early 1970s, Walls continued working for international literacy, going to Bermuda to promote International Book Year 1972 and serving on a UNICEF board. At one point, she was nominated to be included in the pool of potential presidential candidates for Grinnell College! In 1975, Walls became an administrator for the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook Libraries from which she retired in 1987.

Mason City Globe newspaper articles about Esther Walls, referring to her as a hometown hero, are abundant and illustrate the pride that community took in her career success and activism. Walls’ life has been anything but ordinary and The University of Iowa is extremely privileged and honored to house her personal artifacts, letters and files that encapsulate this woman’s accomplishments and journeys. To explore and discover more about this phenomenal Iowan, visit the African American Women in Iowa Digital Collection or come in and browse the physical artifacts in the Iowa Women’s Archives in the Main Library.

–Sara Baird
Library Assistant, Central Technical Services