Ann B. Walker, a pillar of the Columbus Black community and the first woman broadcaster to cover the Ohio Statehouse, died Oct. 5 at the age of 101, according to NBC4 anchor Kerry Charles.
“It’s a great loss. I’m privileged to work at the station where she opened the doors for so many women and minorities to walk through. And I’m just grateful to her family for sharing her with us. She was a big supporter of mine and I appreciate every conversation and every bit of wisdom she brought into me,” Charles told The Dispatch.
Walker was born in Columbus on Nov. 1, 1923 and graduated from the city’s East High School. She went on to attend college at Prairie View A&M College in Texas on a tennis scholarship before receiving her bachelor’s degree from George Williams College in Chicago in 1944, according to her biography in The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. She was a lifetime member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
Walker got her start in journalism in 1949, writing for the Ohio Sentinel, one of Columbus’ first Black newspapers, according to her Ohio Statehouse biography. She went on to radio station WVKO-AM in the 1960s, serving in leadership roles and as on-air talent, according to HistoryMakers.
In 1972, she joined WLWC-TV, now WCMH-TV or NBC4, serving as on-air talent, as a producer and as the station’s community services director, according to her HistoryMakers biography. She was the first woman in broadcast management at the station, according to her biography in the City of Columbus Hall of Fame. She was also responsible for starting an internship program at the station to help students explore a career in broadcasting, Columbus Monthly previously reported.
She was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1978 as the first woman to cover the Ohio Statehouse, according to HistoryMakers.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Walker as special assistant to the director of the White House Public Affairs Office, making her the first Black woman from Franklin County to receive a White House appointment, according to the City of Columbus Hall of Fame.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said Walker dedicated her life to fighting for justice and for “seats at the table for women, African-Americans, for Columbus”.
“She was our leader. And we are stronger because of her and we should follow her lead of being courageous in the times of trouble,” Hardin said.
Walker also received honors from the leader of another nation, Ghana. The King of Ghana bestowed on Walker the title of Queen Mother of the country’s Mozano Village. She was a frequent traveler to Africa, organizing trips to the continent for zoo patrons during her time serving as the first Black woman on the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s board.
Former Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said Walker broke the glass ceiling for Black people in journalism in central Ohio, calling her a symbol of pride for her work in Africa and Columbus. The former mayor called Walker “regal” and was someone you always honored when she was in your presence.
“It was truly like a queen was in your presence and you treated her that way,” he said of his interactions with Walker, whom he met in the 1980s.
In recent years, Walker was honored with a plaza named after her at the Adelphi Quarter apartment complex on East Long Street, an NBC4 documentary and by Columbus City Council before her 100th birthday, according to NBC4.
Her life’s mission was to open the door for at least one other person, Columbus Monthly previously reported. “But I was able to open it for many more, because once they saw the possibilities, they were willing to put forth the effort,” she told Columbus Monthly in 2021.
Transportation and Neighborhoods Reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, at @NathanRHart on X and at nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
