Walls, Murray B. Atkins
(born: 1900 - died: 1993)Murray Walls was a schoolteacher from Indiana who added the first black history program to the curriculum while teaching high school in Indianapolis. She was married to Dr. John Harrison Walls of Louisville, KY. One day Murray Walls was preparing research for a speaking engagement in Louisville when she was denied entrance to the nearest library; she was directed to the Colored Libraries, the Western and Eastern Branches. After this incident, she began to campaign for the integration of the Louisville Free Public Library System. The libraries began to integrate in 1948. Murray B. Atkins Walls was born in Indiana, the daughter of Kentucky natives Calvin and Dora Atkins. She is a graduate of Butler University and Columbia University. For more see the Murray B. Atkins Walls Papers at the University of Louisville Libraries; and In Black and White, 3rd ed., edited by M. M. Spradling.
