Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Anne Watkins Walker, 1874-1941
By Nannette Crane-Post, English Faculty, National Park College
Anne Watkins Walker was a life-long resident of Little Rock, Arkansas. She was born there on April 7, 1874 and died there on July 12, 1941. Anne's great-grandparents were some of the original pioneers who settled Little Rock. Her great-grandfather was a veteran of the War of 1812 and her grandfather was a judge and a well-known political presence in Little Rock. Her father, Claiborne, was a Confederate soldier and is credited with being one of the first surgeons to remove an appendix. He was also one of the founders and first faculty members of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Anne's mother, Mildred, was an honorary member of the Arkansas Medical Faculty Auxiliary.
Anne married Robert Woods Walker, a local coal yard proprietor, on November 4, 1903, and they had four children: Robert Jr., Gertrude, Claiborne, and Mildred. The family must have been fairly well-off, at least early on, because the 1910 census noted that they employed three servants.
Anne identified as a suffragist in Little Rock and was elected as the treasurer of the Equal Suffrage Central Committee on April 2, 1918 at the committee's first annual meeting. She also served on the Mt. Holly Cemetery Association Board and belonged to the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Anne's sister, Gertrude Watkins, was also a suffragist who organized approximately sixty committees in 1915. She traveled the country to suffragist events and was on the staff of national organizers of the suffragist movement. Anne and Robert named their daughter after Anne's sister, Gertrude. The infant Gertrude (1911-1913) was at first buried in the Watkins family plot at Mount Holly Cemetery and was then moved to the Walker family plot.
Robert Walker died on March 5, 1920. Anne died on July 12, 1941 and was buried with her husband in Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock.
SOURCES:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRN5-8RQ?i=29&cc=1727033
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90326031
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7840520/anne-walker
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7636436/claiborne-watkins
United States Census of 1910, 1920, and 1930 via www.familysearch.org
Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 20 December 2018), memorial page for Gertrude Watkins Walker (15 Mar 1911–27 May 1913), Find A Grave Memorial no. 90326031, citing Mount Holly Cemetery, Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas, USA ; Maintained by P. V. Hays (contributor 46588659)