DACS

taylorwalter Inventory of the Walter J. Taylor Papers, 1934-2000 Processed by: Meghan Lyon; machine-readable finding aid created by: Meghan Lyon David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Duke University Durham, N.C., USA

Aleph Number: 004263147

Machine-readable finding aid derived from XML authoring program. Date of source: December 2009Processed by Meghan Lyon, December 2009; finding aid encoded by Meghan Lyon, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, December 2009 Description is in English Finding aid was prepared using DACS and local Style Guide Inventory of the Walter J. Taylor Papers, 1934-2000 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Duke University Durham, North Carolina 27708-0185 USA

Descriptive Summary David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University Taylor, Walter J. Walter J. Taylor Papers, 1934-2000 Material in English 2.4 Linear Feet 1800 Items For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. Walter J. Taylor was incarcerated at San Quentin and Folsom prisons from 1968-1973. While in jail, he founded the Sisters of Motivation and the Community Concern for Prisoners organizations to help African American convicts. He was also arrested, but never charged, as a suspect in the Stinky Rapist crimes that plagued Berkeley from 1973-1978. Collection consists largely of materials from Taylor's time in prison and as a community activist, post-prison, in Berkeley, California, during the 1970s. The majority of the materials is Taylor's incoming correspondence during his incarceration, which includes letters from a variety of people, especially women participating as pen pals in the Sisters of Motivation organization. Other frequent writers are Taylor's girlfriends, family members, and community organizations that he had contacted regarding his imprisonment and the general condition of black male prisoners. Post-prison materials consist largely of letters of recommendation and thanks relating to his job as a youth counselor; creative writings and poems about black culture and beauty; business flyers for his music store; and Community Concern for Prisoners materials. Another large part of the collection is the clippings series, many of which relate to Taylor being the prime suspect for the Stinky Rapist crimes in Berkeley from 1973-1978. Acquired as part of the Duke Human Rights Archive. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

However, collection may contain materials to which the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies. Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.

Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Walter J. Taylor Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Provenance

The Walter J. Taylor Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2009.

Processing Information

Processed by Meghan Lyon, December 2009

Encoded by Meghan Lyon, December 2009

Accession 2009-0269 is described in this finding aid.

Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local Style Guide.

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.

Biographical Note

Walter J. Taylor was born on September 4, 1934, and was educated as a mechanic in the San Francisco area. He was convicted several times for burglary, robbery, and other crimes, and was sent to San Quentin prison in 1968 following a string of burglaries in Berkeley, California. While in prison he attended classes, read and wrote about African Americans' struggle for justice and civil rights, and served on the San Quentin Inmate Advisory Council. He was later transferred to Folsom Prison. Many of his letters from jail mention his campaigns for prisoner rights, including a right to privacy in prisoner correspondence and his protesting of the censorship of Black newspapers for prisoners.

While in prison, Taylor maintained an active correspondence with his family and friends. This was supplemented through prolific correspondence to pen pals that he met through Sisters of Motivation, an organization that he founded to enable communication between women and black male prisoners. Although the Sisters of Motivation literature claimed that it was not a dating service, Taylor's correspondence reveals that he had relationships with several women that he appears to have met through the organization.

Although he was up for parole several times previously, Taylor was eventually granted parole in 1973. He remained in the Oakland area as a counselor for Thresholds, a community advocacy group targeted at juvenile delinquents. He also served as a collections agent for KDIA Radio, and opened his own record store, Oldies But Goodies. Taylor remained an activist for prisoner rights, running at one point for the Oakland Community Action Agency's administrative board. He also founded the Community Concern for Prisoners organization to help African American men in prison. Throughout his life, Taylor appears to have been actively writing articles, essays, poems, and songs, and this activity continued as well.

In October 1978, Taylor was arrested and held for four days as a suspect in the Stinky Rapist case. The Stinky Rapist was a serial rapist in Berkeley and Oakland, California, who police believe raped at least 62 women, beginning in 1973 and lasting for five years. The rapist was deemed stinky because many of the women reported him having a foul smell. None of the victims were able to see their attacker, making it impossible to identify him. Taylor was suspected due to his being in the vicinity in several of the cases, as well as his reported sexual fetishes, his peculiar behavior, and his known contact with some of the victims, two of whom were members of the Sisters of Motivation. The evidence being circumstantial, however, led police to release him without charging him. Taylor subsequently reported severe repercussions for his business and his job. The rapes stopped shortly afterward, and the statute of limitations ran out in 1981.

Not much is known about Taylor's life following the Stinky Rapist suspicions. He is believed to have died in 2007.

Collection Overview

This collection consists of personal papers; prison and legal materials; post-prison materials; organizational papers; business flyers; community and campaign ephemera; creative works and writings by Taylor; correspondence; and news clippings.

Taylor's Personal Papers consist of items like his birth certificate, school diplomas, and certificates. These are the only materials in the collection that date from his childhood and youth. The Prison and Legal Materials series includes items such as police reports and accounts of Taylor's burglary in 1967, San Quentin Inmate Advisory Council certificates, and grades from his classes at the prison's school. Though this is a small series, it offers insight into Taylor's activities while at the San Quentin and Folsom prisons from 1968-1973.

Taylor's Post-Prison Materials include information about his activities following parole in 1973. His work for the Thresholds program is documented through letters of thanks from Oakland officials and school districts, as well as booklets about the program itself. This series also includes other items from Taylor's post-prison job search, such as his work for KDIA radio. Later materials offer insight into Taylor's passions following his parole. There are several flyers and other promotional material for Taylor's record store, Oldies But Goodies, as well as documentation of a business loan. This series also documents the political scene of San Francisco in the 1970s, including rosters and candidate lists, materials from the Black Book business directory, and flyers from Taylor's run for the Oakland Community Action Agency's administrative board. This series also has the only portion of the collection dealing with Taylor's life post-1981. Travel documents suggest that he was at least visiting the Carribbean in 1999-2000. Finally, there are some miscellaneous materials in this series, including flyers, leaflets, and other general materials that document life in the San Francisco area but do not relate specifically to Taylor's activities.

The Organizational Papers series has materials from both the Sisters of Motivation, which Taylor appears to have started while in prison, and Community Concern for Prisoners, which he appears to have founded after his release from jail. This series includes sign up sheets, letters of support from public officials and community members, and general information about the organizations. It also contains flyers and bulletins from the CCP's various events, including one with Maya Angelou and other prominent San Francisco artists and writers.

Taylor's Writings and Creative Works include a wide range of his materials, beginning with poems and songs and ending with political reflections and essays on Black culture. Common themes are the oppression that he faced in prison, the beauty of Black women, and the struggle of African Americans for justice. Some of these materials were published as letters to the editor or as poems in Black newspapers; others were simply compiled by Taylor into booklets.

The Correspondence series is by far the largest part of the collection. It arrived at Special Collections pre-sorted based on the writer and recipient of the letter, and these subseries have been maintained through processing. Most of the correspondence dates from Taylor's time in prison from 1968-1973, but there are letters from both before and after that period. Taylor's Outgoing Correspondence from his time in prison is divided into four parts. The first is Taylor's general correspondence to family, friends, community organizations, politicians, and potential employers. The other three parts are Taylor's outgoing correspondence to three different girlfriends: Barbara Cheatem, Carolyn Kitson, and Alice/Betty Jo (her full name is not clear). Taylor's Incoming Correspondence makes up the majority of the series. Incoming letters are divided into general correspondence; the Black Scholar organization; Bill and Ella Carter; Barbara Cheatem; Patricia Dickens; family members (including his parents and his children); Doris Johnson; Carlyn Kitson; his lawyers; public officials; Verdia Rhone; Allyna Robinson; Dorothy Rodgers; Jesse and Dottie Taylor (Taylor's sister and brother-in-law); Marie Taylor (Taylor's wife); and Joni Wetzcher. The incoming general correspondence includes materials about Taylor's job search, his parole hearings, requests for help in getting divorced, and other materials about his health and well-being in prison. Other materials of note are in the letters from his lawyers and public officials, as Taylor appears to have been protesting censorship of Black newspapers and the invasion of prisoner privacy in the mail screening procedures, especially at Folsom Prison. The majority of women writing to Taylor were participating pen pals in the Sisters of Motivation program.

The final series is the News Clippings series, the majority of which dates from Taylor's post-prison life. Some of the clippings are of Taylor's published letters to the editor or his poems; several are general Black culture and society articles that do not appear to relate specifically to Taylor. The remainder of the clippings are coverage of the Stinky Rapist case, both from mainstream and Black newspapers.

Subject Headings

These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.

Taylor, Walter J. Folsom Prison. California State Prison at San Quentin. Grievance procedures for prisoners. African Americans--California--Civil rights--1960-1980. African American criminals. African American prisoners. Prisoners--Civil rights. Prisons--1965-1975. Pen pals. Ex-convicts. Rapists--Berkeley (Calif.) Berkeley (Calif.) Oakland (Calif.) Love letters. Contents of Collection Personal papers, 1934-1961 (1 folder) 1Personal papers Prison materials, 1957-1973 and no date (1 folder)

Includes forms and materials from the prison, such as Taylor's grade reports and San Quentin Inmate Advisory Council certificates, as well as police reports and accounts of the burglary that resulted in his being sent to prison in 1968.

1Prison materials Post-prison materials 1973-1981 and no date (6 folders)

Contains letters and program materials about the Thresholds juvenile deliquency program that Taylor worked for following parole. Also includes some job search materials; business flyers from his music store, Oldies But Goodies; and materials from his interest in political and community activism.

1Post-prison employment, 1974-1978 and no date Business materials, 1981 and no date Political and community campaigns Travel, 1999-2000 Business cards Miscellaneous materials Organizational papers, 1972-1975 (2 folders)

Includes sign-in sheets, membership rosters, and other materials from the Sisters of Motivation and the Community Concern for Prisoners organization. Taylor claims to have founded both programs and appears to have worked for them for a while following parole.

1Sisters of Motivation, 1972-1974 and no date Community Concern for Prisoners, 1973-1975 Writings and creative works, 1969-1977 and no date (2 folders) 1Creative works, 1969-1977 and no date Writings, political and poems Correspondence, 1954-1973 (3 boxes)

Materials in the correspondence series discuss all facets of Walter Taylor's life while in prison. It has been divided into incoming and outgoing correspondence, and then further divided by either subject or correspondant. Outgoing correspondence consists of carbon copies of letters. Incoming correspondence is a much larger sub-series. Correspondants are largely friends, girlfriends, and family members of Taylor. Subjects covered by these letters include Taylor's children and other family, activities by both parties, and Taylor's health. Several of the correspondants write of intimate feelings for Taylor, and he reciprocates in his outgoing letters. Many of the relationships appeared to have ended once he left prison.

2Outgoing correspondence General, 1970-1973 (5 folders) To Alice/Betty Jo (name uncertain), 1971 To Doris Johnson, 1970-1971 To Carolyn Kitson, 1970-1973 Incoming correspondence General incoming correspondence Professional/employment/legal, regarding jobs, etc., 1969-1973 Personal/friendly/from Sisters of Motivation, etc., 1954-1976 and no date (2 folders) Greeting cards Black Scholar organization, 1972-1973 Bill and Ella Carter, 1972 Barbara Cheatem, 1957-1965 and no date 3Barbara Cheatem, 1965-1966 Patricia Dickens, 1972 Family members, 1965-1973 Doris Johnson, 1970-1971 (3 folders) Carolyn Kitson, 1970-1972 Sept. (5 folders) 4Carolyn Kitson, 1972 Oct.-1973 (2 folders) Lawyers, 1968-1972 Public officials, 1971-1972 Verdia Rhone, 1971 Allyna Robinson, 1971-1973 Dorothy Rodgers, 1971-1972 Jesse and Dottie Taylor, 1971-1973 Marie Taylor, 1962-1963 Joni Wetzcher, 1972 News clippings, 1960s-1981 (3 folders) 4Creative works, letters to the editor, 1960s-1970s and no date Black community, Berkeley police, 1970s-1980s Stinky Rapist case, 1978-1981