Wuanda M. T. Walls family papers

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biographical/Historical note

Scope and Contents note

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

General note

Bibliography

Collection Inventory

Personal papers

Research

Photographs and negatives

Summary Information

Repository

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Creator

Walls, Wuanda M. T.

Title

Wuanda M. T. Walls family papers

ID

3532

Date

c.1860-2007

Extent

2.07 Linear feet 2.07 linear feet, 2 boxes, 10 volumes, 3 flat file items

Author

Finding aid prepared by Sarah Newhouse

Sponsor

This collection was processed during the Digital Center for Americana Project Phase II, which was funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Richard Lounsbery Foundation.

Language

English

Abstract

Wuanda M. T. Walls is a writer who was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, but raised in nearby Delaware County. She graduated from Chester High School in 1961 and Lincoln University in 1980. The Walls family was one of the core families of Hinsonville, Pennsylvania, a small African American community in Chester County that became the site of Lincoln University, the oldest black college in the United States. The collection documents the history of the Wallses and related families, Hinsonville, and Lincoln University Village. It includes family photos, correspondence, clippings, legal papers, diplomas and yearbooks, ephemera, an oral history audiocassette and transcript, a published essay (by Wuanda Walls) and two books on the history of Hinsonville, and other items. There is also some of Walls's own memorabilia, such as autographed photographs and programs, airplane tickets, and a program from the 1966 Newport Jazz festival.

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Biographical/Historical note

Wuanda M. T. Walls (1943- ) is a writer who was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, but raised in nearby Delaware County. She graduated from Chester High School in 1961 and Lincoln University in 1980. As an adult, she moved to Colorado, but traveled frequently to Europe, Africa, Central and South America, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Her writing frequently deals with travel, but she also writes about art, food and cooking, aging, and family history.

The Walls family was one of the core families of Hinsonville, Pennsylvania, a small African American community in Chester County that became the site of Lincoln University, the oldest black college in the United States. The development of Hinsonville began when Edward Wall (1793-1880) sold land to many of his African American relatives, encouraging them to settle in the same area in Chester County. The town was named for Emory Hinson (1792-1852), possibly because he bought a great quantity of land in the area. In 1843, Hinsonville established its first church, the Hossana Meeting House, on land deeded for this purpose by Edward Wall. During the Civil War, the Hosanna Meeting House was a refuge for fugitive slaves and a stop on the Underground Railroad. Sometime after the Civil War, the church was given its current name: the Hosanna African Union Methodist Protestant (AUMP) Church.

Lincoln University's history begins in 1854, when Reverend John Miller Dickey built a seminar school to train black men as preachers and missionaries for the Presbyterian Colonization Society in Liberia, Africa. He purchased land in Hinsonville and established the Ashman Institute, which was renamed to Lincoln University in 1866.

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Scope and Contents note

This collection contains the papers and photographs of Wuanda Walls and her family, which date from c.1860 to 2005. These papers document the history of the Walls family and Hinsonville, Pennsylvania. The collection includes correspondence, genealogical research, funeral records, newspaper clippings, bound volumes, yearbooks, diplomas, photographs, and negatives. It is arranged into three series: I. Personal papers; II.   Research; III.   Photographs and negatives. Due to the Walls family's role in Hinsonville history, there is some overlap in content between the series. For example, some letters to Wuanda Walls from a family member are in Series II:   Research, because they deal with family history. Some items relating to Lincoln University are in Series I:   Personal papers because they document Wuanda Walls's time there, but could also be considered as research that documents the history of the institution.

Series I. Personal papers contains Wuanda M. T. Walls's personal documents and ranges in date from 1944 to 2005. These documents include letters from friends, items related to her travels (including plane tickets, itineraries, and other ephemera), Walls's published works, and diplomas and yearbooks from Chester High School and Lincoln University. The letters are only a small part of this series; most of them are from actress Rosalind Cash, and a few others are from a congressman, a senator, and various artists. Two of Walls's published pieces are in this series, both of which are essays in compilations, one about traveling and the other about aging. Items in this series are arranged chronologically.

Series II. Research contains reseach on the Walls family, Hinsonville, and Hosanna Church done by Wuanda Walls and others. This series includes original documents and photocopies made by Walls, published volumes on Hinsonville, and an interview with one of Walls's relatives. Harold Walls Sr., Wuanda's paternal grandfather, is the family member most represented in this series, along with her father, Harold Walls Jr. The two published volumes in this series,  Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family (1978) and  Hinsonville, A Community at the Crossroads: The Story of a Nineteenth-Century African-American Village (2005) were both written with help from Wuanda Walls and include information about Hinsonville, Hosanna Church, and the Walls family. Items in this series are arranged chronologicallly.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania March 12, 2012

Conditions Governing Access note

This collection is open for research.

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Related Materials

Related Archival Materials note

At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:

Albert M. Greenfield papers, 1921-1967 (1959)

Leon Gardiner Collection, 1822-1979 (0008B)

Samuel D. Holmes papers, 1932-1976 (D0141)

William J. Moore papers, 1871-1952 (MSS121)

Henry C. Patterson papers, 1929-1972 (MSS004)

Henry C. Patterson photographs, ca. 1940-1968 (PG054)

Also see the subject guide for African American collections.

At other institutions:

Lincoln University's Digital Collections

Lincoln University Collection at the Lincoln University Library's Special Collections

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Controlled Access Headings

Geographic Name(s)

• Hinsonville (Pa.).
• Lincoln University (Pa.).

Subject(s)

• African American actresses.
• African American authors--20th century.
• African American churches.
• African American Methodists.
• African American soldiers--History--19th century.
• African American universities and colleges.
• African American women authors.
• African Union Methodist Protestant Church (U.S.)--History--19th century.

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General note

Project themes: African American / NEH2010

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Bibliography

Russo, Mariane H. and Paul A. Russo. Hinsonville, a Community at the Crossroads: The Story of a Nineteenth-Century African-American Village. Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 2005.

Walls, Wuanda. "Grandfather's Stories, Freedom and Hosanna Church." Chester County Town and Country Living, Spring 2001.

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Collection Inventory