Mildred Pitts Walter Biography
Mildred Pitts Walter is an American children’s book author best recognized for her stories starring African-American heroes. She also helped to recruit Freedom Riders from California. She then became a teacher and a successful children’s book author.
Mildred Pitts Walter Age
She was born on 9 September 1922, in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, United States of America. Pitts is 101 years old as of September 2023.
Mildred Pitts Walter Education
Walter obtained a bachelor’s degree in English from Southern University in New Orleans. She paid for her school by working in the defense industry during World War II. Walter traveled to Los Angeles in 1944 after graduating to work as a school clerk. She attended California State College and completed her elementary school certification requirements.
Mildred Pitts Walter Family
Mildred Pitts was born in Louisiana, as the youngest of seven children to Paul Pitts, a logger, and Mary Pitts, a beautician and midwife. She was born in Sweetville, Louisiana, and raised in Gaytine, a small, segregated sawmill community in Beauregard Parish, near DeRidder. She earned a master’s degree in education from the Antioch College extension in Denver
Mildred Pitts Walter Husband- Spouse
In Los Angeles, she met Earl Walter, with whom she married from 1947 until his death in 1965. Mildred and Earl were both civil rights activists, serving as members of the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE), where Earl eventually rose to become national vice chairman. They have two boys.
Mildred Pitts Walter Career
Walter previously served as a consultant at the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education in Denver, as well as a consultant teacher and lecturer at Metro State College. She turned 100 in 2022.Walter started writing after realizing that there were few books for young readers regarding Black children authored by Black authors. Walter has written over 20 children’s novels since her debut in 1969 (Lillie of Watts, about a girl growing up in Los Angeles’ Watts neighborhood). A sequel to Lillie of Watts, Lillie of Watts Takes a Giant Step, was released in 1971. Walter’s other fiction includes Ty’s One-Man Band (1980), Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World (1986), and Mariah Loves Rock (1988).
Walter’s nonfiction publications include Mississippi Challenge (1992), which chronicles the history of African Americans in Mississippi from enslavement to the Civil War, Reconstruction, and civil rights advocates’ efforts to repeal racist voting laws in the state. Publishers Weekly published the following review: “Walter’s heavily footnoted text may prove somewhat slow going for the general reader, but she has uncovered much eye-opening material.” Walter’s 2011 historical fiction work, The Second Daughter: The Story of a Slave Girl, is inspired by the true story of Mum Bett, a former slave who successfully sued for her freedom. In 2019, the University of Mississippi Press published Walter’s autobiography, Something Inside So Strong: Life in Pursuit of Choice, Courage, and Change.
Mildred Pitts Walter Net Worth
Pitts has an estimated net worth of 5 million dollars.
Pitts Walter Books
Ty’s One-Man Band (1980)
My Mama Needs Me (1983)
Because We Are (1983)
Brother to the Wind (1985)
Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World (1986)
Second Daughter: The Story of a Slave Girl (1996)
Mississippi Challenge (1992)
Kwanzaa: A Family Affair (1995)
