Wichita council poised to name new library for leader of 1958 desegregation sit-in
Wichita’s newest public library will likely be named after civil rights icon and author Ronald Walters, who as a young man led the Dockum Drugs store sit-in that helped end racial segregation in the city.
The City Council is poised to accept a recommendation from the Library Board on Tuesday to name the replacement for the Linwood Branch, which is scheduled to close Jan. 15. It’s being replaced with a new library under construction in a building at 4195 E. Harry that housed the former Karl’s Tire Shop in the former Wichita Mall.
Walters, who was born and raised in Wichita before becoming a national-level civil rights icon, came in third in a community vote on what to name the new facility. Naming it for former Mayor Carl Brewer or calling it the Meadowlark branch came in at Nos. 1 and 2, according to a city report.
Walters got the most points in a ranked-choice vote among five finalists during a recent meeting where the Library Board finalized its recommendation to the council.
Council member Brandon Johnson, the only African-American elected official in local government, said he’s excited to name the library for Walters because of his contributions to the city and equality.
“I think that’s kind of the right place to have that name,” said Johnson, citing Walters’ contributions not only to the civil rights movement but also as an author and educator. “This is a chance to help tell that story.”
He said he’s talked with Walters’ widow, Patricia, who’s expected to link in to Tuesday’s council meeting and offer remarks on the library being named for her late husband.
Walters, a graduate of Wichita East High School, attracted national attention to the cause of civil rights in 1958 at age 20.
As the president of the local NAACP Youth Council, he organized family members and friends for a rolling sit-in at the Dockum Drugs store at the southeast corner of Douglas and Broadway, the current site of the Ambassador Hotel.
The store’s popular lunch counter would only serve African-Americans by take-out. In protest, Walters and about a dozen others took seats at the counter and attempted to order.
Their requests for service were denied by the staff, citing company policy, so the young protesters remained on their stools until closing time, enduring taunts and insults from white patrons.
The protest continued in that vein for three weeks until the manager finally relented and directed his staff to serve the protesters, because the store was losing so much money.
The national NAACP honored the protest in 2006 as the first youth-led sit-in in the nation to achieve the desired results.
Walters left Wichita, earning a bachelor’s degree at Fisk University in Nashville, part of the historically Black college system. He later earned a PhD from American University in Washington D.C.
It was the start of a distinguished career in academia, including stints as chairman of the Afro-American studies department at Brandeis University, chairman of the political science department at Howard University, professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland and director of the African American Leadership Institute at UCLA.
He wrote at least eight books dealing with subjects of racial reconciliation, the political system and African-American leadership.
Walters remained active in politics throughout his life, serving in the Clinton administration as an adviser on policies in opposition to South African apartheid and managing both presidential campaigns of his fellow civil-rights leader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
He died in 2010 at the age of 72.
Walters’ accomplishments remain a point of pride for the city’s African-American community, said Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita.
The Wichita African American Council of Elders begins each meeting with a ceremony in which the members offer up names of civil rights pioneers who helped break barriers to equality in Kansas. Walters’ name is spoken at every meeting, Faust-Goudeau said.
Faust-Goudeau credits his activism for equal rights as a major factor that paved her way to become the first African-American woman to serve in the state Senate.
“All of the things that he did made a big difference not only in my life, but also many others here in Wichita,” she said. “The legacy he left is one to be proud of.”
The City Council is scheduled to vote on naming the library at its meeting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
Because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the meeting is closed to the public. It can be viewed at the city’s Channel 7 on Cox Cable, online at www.wichita.gov or on the city’s YouTube page.
Persons wishing to address the council by remote teleconferencing can do so from viewing rooms at the Century II Convention and Performing Arts Center.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 4:43 AM.
