Willie Walker Caldwell (1860-1946) was an American writer and club woman.

Biography

Caldwell née Walker was born in

Newbern, Virginia Newbern is an unincorporated community in Pulaski County, in the U.S. state of Virginia. From 1839 until the court house burned in 1892, Newbern was the county seat of Pulaski County A large share of the early settlers being natives of Switzerla ...

in 1860. In 1895 she married Manley M. Caldwell with whom she had three children. For five years Walker edited a column for ''

The Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...

''. She was the author of several books including a biography of her father ''Stonewall Jim: A Biography of General

James A. Walker James Alexander Walker (August 27, 1832 – October 21, 1901) was a Virginia lawyer, politician, and Confederate general during the American Civil War, later serving as a United States Congressman for two terms. He earned the nickname "Ston ...

, C.S.A.'', and the historical novels ''The Tie that Binds: a story of the North and the South'' and ''Donald McElroy, Scotch Irishman''. She was charter member of the Roanoke Woman's Civic Betterment Club and served as president for 4 years. She was also a member of the Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs, serving as president for a number of years. Other memberships included the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

and the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...

. She was quoted in an editorial in August, 1914 edition of The American Club Woman Magazine, stating "The best work of

women's clubs The woman's club movement was a social movement that took place throughout the United States that established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While women's organizations had always been a par ...

is done in the awakening of the civic conscious." Caldwell died in 1946. In 2018 the Virginia Capitol Foundation announced that Caldwell's name would be on the

Virginia Women's Monument The Virginia Women's Monument is a state memorial in Richmond, Virginia commemorating the contributions of Virginia women to the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America. Located on the grounds of the Virginia Stat ...

's glass Wall of Honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Willie Walker 1860 births 1946 deaths 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American women writers People from Pulaski County, Virginia 19th-century American novelists 20th-century American novelists Novelists from Virginia 20th-century American biographers American women biographers Clubwomen