William Walker lived out a life devoted to ending racial inequality in the United States.

Walker was born on July 1, 1896 in Indiana. He was the son of a freed slave and grew up learning about the horrors of slavery in the early 1800’s. Showing his perseverance to prove people wrong, Walker became the first African American graduate of Pendleton High School.
This led him to join the Army during WW1 to push the idea of equality among races. This is very important to the history of our country due to the discrimination that African Americans faced every day of their lives.

As Walker grew up, he became very interested in becoming an actor and in 1946. He appeared in his first movie, playing Sam in the film The Killers . He would become passionate in
acting, having roles in over 90 films in his 32 years as an actor. At the start of his career, Walker was limited to only playing roles as a domestic servant due to his race. In the 1940s, the racial climate slowly began to accept the African American community. This allowed Walker to portray more important roles such as doctors and diplomats. Years later, he would go on to direct and even produce films of his own. Walker is best remembered for his role as Reverend Sykes in
the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. This became a very popular movie in the mid 1900s.

William Walker was the type of person to follow through and push for what is right in the world. Even after Walker retired from the service, he still helped push ideas of ending racial segregation in the United States. He would even become a civil rights activist. Walker wanted to
ensure that African Americans earned fair treatment in the film industry. In 1952, Walker was elected as a member of the Screen Actors’ Guild Board of Directors, where he served until 1971.

Walker even gave a presentation with actor Ronald Reagan, who would later become our president. Together they discussed the problems that African Americans faced in the film business and how they could be fixed. William Walker was able live out a life full of many
achievements. He showed how perseverance can lead to change in the world.

**This biography was written by a student participating in the Veterans Legacy Program

Credit: Mitchell Machuca

Riverside National Cemetery

William "Bill" Walker's biography is featured on pages 72-73 of "Their Full Measure" a lesson plan by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

NCA Notable Person -- William F. Walker.pdf

WILLIAM F WALKER

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