Ella Baker Zumwalt scrapbooks, 1933-1999

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Zumwalt, Ella Baker
Title
Ella Baker Zumwalt scrapbooks
Dates
1933-1999 (inclusive)
1983-1999 (bulk)
Quantity
9 linear feet, (6 boxes)
Collection Number
WCMss.018
Summary
This collection houses scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and personal photographs of a woman, Ella Baker Zumwalt, who resided in Northeastern Oregon.
Repository
Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Penrose Library, Room 130
345 Boyer Avenue
Walla Walla, WA
99362
Telephone: 5095275922
Fax: 5095264785
archives@whitman.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Ella Maude Baker was born on August 16, 1918 at a hospital in Chase, British Columbia, Canada. Her parents, Walter Scott Baker (b. 1893 in Burtrum, Minnesota) and Jesse Maude Leib (b. 1900 in Hot Springs, Arkansas), were married in 1916 in Lincoln County, Montana. In 1917, her parents moved to British Columbia to homestead. Ella Maude Baker was their only child.

From the mid-1920s through the mid-1930s, the family lived in Chehalis, Washington and Medford, Oregon, where Walter Baker worked in agriculture and the lumber industry. In 1934, Walter Baker and Jesse Leib Baker separated. Ella Baker moved to Eureka, Montana to live with her grandmother. There she met and married William Wayne Workman in 1935. They had four children: Alma Lee (b. 1936), Barbara Ramona (b. 1937), William Rodney (b. 1938), and Patricia Marie (b. 1940). After living in Idaho and Washington, Ella Baker and William Workman separated in 1947.

After the divorce, Ella Baker and her three living children moved to LaGrande, Oregon. In 1954, Ella Baker was remarried to Howard O. Zumwalt, a rural mail carier. Ella Baker Zumwalt worked for many years as a proofreader for the LaGrande Evening Observer.

In 1977, after both Ella and Howard Zumwalt had retired, they moved to Milton-Freewater, Oregon. For twenty years, they enjoyed golfing and fishing together. In 1997, after Howard's death, Ella Baker Zumwalt moved to Clarkston, Washington to live near one of her children.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The thirteen scrapbooks, some of which are homemade, contain primarily clippings from local and national newspapers, including the Wallowa County Chieftan, the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, and the LaGrande Observer. The articles cover a variety of topics, ranging from local history, politics, deaths of local and national celebrities, and weather. Photographs, correspondence, and ephemera may also be found in the scrapbooks. An additional folder containing five photographs of Ella Baker Zumwalt at various stages of her life rounds out the collection.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Donated to the Whitman College and Northwest Archives by Alma Merrill in February 2005. The accession number associated with this donation is 2005-001.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1 Photographs 1933-1988
1 Scrapbooks 1950-1989
2 Scrapbooks 1983-1986
3 Scrapbooks 1985-1991
4 Scrapbooks 1987-1993
5 Scrapbooks 1991-1997
6 Scrapbooks 1995-1999

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top