Biographical Note
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 Description
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.
