See biography by E. C. White (2004); studies by D. W. Winchell (1992), H. L. Gates et al., ed. (1993), and Ikenna Dieke, ed. (1999).
See T. Due, The Black Rose (2000); A. Bundles, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker (2001); B. Lowry, Her Dream of Dreams: The Rise and Triumph of Madam C. J. Walker (2003)
See biography by J. P. Munroe (1923); study by B. Newton (1968).
See G. Fowler, Beau James (1949, repr. 1970); H. Mitgang, Once upon a Time in New York (2000).
See biography by C. M. Snyder (1962).
See biographies by W. E. Dodd (1914, repr. 1967) and J. P. Shenton (1961).
See his own book, War in Nicaragua (1860, repr. 1971); W. O. Scroggs, Filibusters and Financiers (1916, repr. 1969); L. Greene, The Filibuster (1937, repr. 1974); biography by A. H. Carr (1963).
See biographies by B. Rathbone (1995) and J. R. Mellow (1999); Walker Evans (Mus. of Modern Art, 1971); Walker Evans and Unclassified: A Walker Evans Anthology (both: Metropolitan Mus. of Art, 2000).
See biography by J. Tolson (1992); studies by L. W. Hobson (1988) and J. D. Crowley, ed. (1989).
(born May 8, 1824, Nashville, Tenn., U.S.—died Sept. 12, 1860, Trujillo, Hond.) U.S. military adventurer. He moved to California (1850), where his interest in colonizing Baja California developed into a filibustering (insurrection) scheme. He landed at La Paz (1853) and proclaimed Lower California and Sonora an independent republic, but Mexican resistance forced him back to the U.S. In 1855 he sailed to Nicaragua, where he effectively established himself as leader. There officers of Cornelius Vanderbilt's Accessory Transit Co. promised him financial assistance in a plot to take the company away from Vanderbilt. Walker seized the company and turned it over to them, then made himself president of Nicaragua (1856). In 1857 Vanderbilt induced five Central American republics to drive Walker out. In 1860 Walker attempted a filibuster in Honduras, where he was captured and executed.
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(born May 8, 1824, Nashville, Tenn., U.S.—died Sept. 12, 1860, Trujillo, Hond.) U.S. military adventurer. He moved to California (1850), where his interest in colonizing Baja California developed into a filibustering (insurrection) scheme. He landed at La Paz (1853) and proclaimed Lower California and Sonora an independent republic, but Mexican resistance forced him back to the U.S. In 1855 he sailed to Nicaragua, where he effectively established himself as leader. There officers of Cornelius Vanderbilt's Accessory Transit Co. promised him financial assistance in a plot to take the company away from Vanderbilt. Walker seized the company and turned it over to them, then made himself president of Nicaragua (1856). In 1857 Vanderbilt induced five Central American republics to drive Walker out. In 1860 Walker attempted a filibuster in Honduras, where he was captured and executed.
Learn more about Walker, William with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born June 19, 1881, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Nov. 18, 1946, New York City) U.S. politician. He entered politics after graduating from New York Law School, becoming a member of the Assembly (1909) and then of the State Senate (1914). Backed by Gov. Alfred E. Smith and Tammany Hall, he was elected mayor (1925–32). A popular figure known for his charm and wit but particularly for his enthusiastic participation in the high life typical of the era, he made improvements in sanitation, hospitals, and subways. In 1931 the state legislature, investigating the city's affairs, charged Walker with corruption; he resigned in 1932.
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(born Feb. 9, 1944, Eatonton, Ga., U.S.) U.S. writer. After attending Spelman College and Sarah Lawrence College, Walker moved to Mississippi and became involved with the civil rights movement. She also began teaching and publishing short stories and essays. Her works are noted for their insightful treatment of African American culture. Her third and most popular novel, The Color Purple (1982, Pulitzer Prize; film, 1985), depicts a black woman's struggle for racial and sexual equality. Her later novels include The Temple of My Familiar (1989) and Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992). She also wrote essays, some collected in In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens (1983); several books of poetry; short stories; and children's books.
Learn more about Walker, Alice (Malsenior) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 28, 1916, Birmingham, Ala., U.S.—died May 10, 1990, Covington, La.) U.S. novelist. He was orphaned in late childhood and was raised by a cousin in Mississippi. While working as a pathologist he contracted tuberculosis; during his recuperation he decided on a writing career and converted to Roman Catholicism. His first and best-known novel, The Moviegoer (1961), introduced his concept of malaise, a sense of spiritual emptiness characteristic of the rootless modern world. His other works, often about the search for faith and love in a New South transformed by industry and technology, include Love in the Ruins (1971), The Second Coming (1980), and The Thanatos Syndrome (1987).
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(born Nov. 3, 1903, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.—died April 10, 1975, New Haven, Conn.) U.S. photographer. He was influenced early by the photographs of Eugène Atget. In 1934 his images of New England architecture were exhibited in the first one-man photographic show at the Museum of Modern Art. From 1935 he photographed rural victims of the Great Depression for the Farm Security Administration; these images were published in American Photographs (1938). He collaborated with James Agee to document the life of Alabama sharecroppers in Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941). Evans's photographs appeared without h1s or comment, in a section separate from Agee's text, yet the whole constitutes one of the finest collaborations between a photographer and a writer. He was later an editor of Fortune magazine (1945–65) and a professor at Yale University (1965–74).
Learn more about Evans, Walker with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 28, 1916, Birmingham, Ala., U.S.—died May 10, 1990, Covington, La.) U.S. novelist. He was orphaned in late childhood and was raised by a cousin in Mississippi. While working as a pathologist he contracted tuberculosis; during his recuperation he decided on a writing career and converted to Roman Catholicism. His first and best-known novel, The Moviegoer (1961), introduced his concept of malaise, a sense of spiritual emptiness characteristic of the rootless modern world. His other works, often about the search for faith and love in a New South transformed by industry and technology, include Love in the Ruins (1971), The Second Coming (1980), and The Thanatos Syndrome (1987).
Learn more about Percy, Walker with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born June 19, 1881, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Nov. 18, 1946, New York City) U.S. politician. He entered politics after graduating from New York Law School, becoming a member of the Assembly (1909) and then of the State Senate (1914). Backed by Gov. Alfred E. Smith and Tammany Hall, he was elected mayor (1925–32). A popular figure known for his charm and wit but particularly for his enthusiastic participation in the high life typical of the era, he made improvements in sanitation, hospitals, and subways. In 1931 the state legislature, investigating the city's affairs, charged Walker with corruption; he resigned in 1932.
Learn more about Walker, James J(ohn) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
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George W. Bush.
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(born June 12, 1924, Milton, Mass., U.S.) 41st president of the U.S. (1989–93). Bush was the son of Prescott Bush, an investment banker and U.S. senator from Connecticut. He served in World War II as a torpedo bomber pilot on aircraft carriers in the Pacific, flying some 58 combat missions; he was shot down by the Japanese in 1944. After graduating from Yale University in 1948, he started an oil business in Texas. He was elected to a Republican seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (1966–70) and later served as ambassador to the UN (1971–72), chief of liaison to China (1974–76), and head of the CIA (1976–77). In 1980 he lost the Republican Party nomination for president to Ronald Reagan. Bush served as vice president under Reagan (1981–89), whom he succeeded as president, defeating Michael Dukakis. He made no dramatic departures from Reagan's policies. In 1989 he ordered a brief military invasion of Panama, which toppled that country's leader, Gen. Manuel Noriega. He helped impose a UN-approved embargo against Iraq in 1990 to force its withdrawal from Kuwait. When Iraq refused, he authorized a U.S.-led air offensive that began the Persian Gulf War. Despite general approval of his foreign policy, an economic recession led to his defeat by Bill Clinton in 1992. His son George W. Bush was elected governor of Texas in 1994 and president of the U.S. in 2000. Another son, Jeb Bush, was elected governor of Florida in 1998.
Learn more about Bush, George (Herbert Walker) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Nov. 3, 1903, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.—died April 10, 1975, New Haven, Conn.) U.S. photographer. He was influenced early by the photographs of Eugène Atget. In 1934 his images of New England architecture were exhibited in the first one-man photographic show at the Museum of Modern Art. From 1935 he photographed rural victims of the Great Depression for the Farm Security Administration; these images were published in American Photographs (1938). He collaborated with James Agee to document the life of Alabama sharecroppers in Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941). Evans's photographs appeared without h1s or comment, in a section separate from Agee's text, yet the whole constitutes one of the finest collaborations between a photographer and a writer. He was later an editor of Fortune magazine (1945–65) and a professor at Yale University (1965–74).
Learn more about Evans, Walker with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
George W. Bush.
Learn more about Bush, George W(alker) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born June 12, 1924, Milton, Mass., U.S.) 41st president of the U.S. (1989–93). Bush was the son of Prescott Bush, an investment banker and U.S. senator from Connecticut. He served in World War II as a torpedo bomber pilot on aircraft carriers in the Pacific, flying some 58 combat missions; he was shot down by the Japanese in 1944. After graduating from Yale University in 1948, he started an oil business in Texas. He was elected to a Republican seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (1966–70) and later served as ambassador to the UN (1971–72), chief of liaison to China (1974–76), and head of the CIA (1976–77). In 1980 he lost the Republican Party nomination for president to Ronald Reagan. Bush served as vice president under Reagan (1981–89), whom he succeeded as president, defeating Michael Dukakis. He made no dramatic departures from Reagan's policies. In 1989 he ordered a brief military invasion of Panama, which toppled that country's leader, Gen. Manuel Noriega. He helped impose a UN-approved embargo against Iraq in 1990 to force its withdrawal from Kuwait. When Iraq refused, he authorized a U.S.-led air offensive that began the Persian Gulf War. Despite general approval of his foreign policy, an economic recession led to his defeat by Bill Clinton in 1992. His son George W. Bush was elected governor of Texas in 1994 and president of the U.S. in 2000. Another son, Jeb Bush, was elected governor of Florida in 1998.
Learn more about Bush, George (Herbert Walker) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Feb. 9, 1944, Eatonton, Ga., U.S.) U.S. writer. After attending Spelman College and Sarah Lawrence College, Walker moved to Mississippi and became involved with the civil rights movement. She also began teaching and publishing short stories and essays. Her works are noted for their insightful treatment of African American culture. Her third and most popular novel, The Color Purple (1982, Pulitzer Prize; film, 1985), depicts a black woman's struggle for racial and sexual equality. Her later novels include The Temple of My Familiar (1989) and Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992). She also wrote essays, some collected in In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens (1983); several books of poetry; short stories; and children's books.
Learn more about Walker, Alice (Malsenior) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Near Walker, there are several guy-wired TV towers, all of them nearly 2000 feet tall.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²), all of it land.
There were 273 households out of which 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.6% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 22.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the city the population was spread out with 30.7% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $43,438, and the median income for a family was $50,556. Males had a median income of $34,271 versus $23,618 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,258. About 4.1% of families and 5.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.