The Walton Family Papers, 1730 to 1975 (bulk 1880-1975), include journals and diaries; correspondence; writings; pictorial material such as postcards, photographs, albums and negatives; clippings; mimeographed material; printed material; and genealogical material. While the majority of the collection pertains to Loring Baker Walton, there also is a family focus, primarily in the correspondence throughout the papers. In particular it relates to Loring Walton, his mother Eleanore C. Walton, her father James Baker, and Eleanore Walton's husband George E. Walton. The collection relates only peripherally to their careers.

The lives of George and Eleanore Walton are documented in the George and Eleanore Walton Series. Most of the earliest items pertain to Mrs. Walton's family, the Bakers, who had settled in Hingham, Massachusetts at least by the eighteenth-century. Letters to Mrs. Walton comprise a major segment of this series, including those to her from her father, James Baker, 1880-1882. Included are courtship letters from George Walton, a physician who attended Eleanore Walton while she was convalescing near Deland, Florida. Most were written, 1891-1892, after she returned to her home in Chicago. Letters from George Walton after the marriage suggest financial hardship and indicate that the couple was frequently separated from the beginning of their marriage and during the early childhood of their son Loring. After 1895, there is a gap in the correspondence. Included is George Walton's 1896 diary of a trip via wagon from Indiana to Florida. Later material and correspondence in the series pertains to Eleanore Walton's work as a clubwoman and motion picture censor in Kansas City, Missouri from the 1920s to 1948, when she retired and moved to Durham, N.C. to live with her son Loring Walton.

The first series is a preview to the second, much larger Loring B. Walton Series. Four volumes of journal entries describe Walton's daily life and thought as a student, first in Kansas City, Mo., and later at Princeton University, which he entered in 1912. The journals record campus reaction to Woodrow Wilson's election to the presidency. Walton was a graduate student at Harvard when he was discharged from ROTC, called to active duty in the U.S. Army, and assigned to the American Expeditionary Force in France and Germany in 1918-1919. During the war and its aftermath, Walton assembled postcards and some photographs which complement his journal entries and correspondence. Most of his letters in this series are addressed to his mother, Eleanore C. Walton, with a few to his grandmother and aunt in Kansas City, Mo. Of interest are his characterizations of civilians during the war and occupation as well as his view of political conditions. For over 30 years Walton corresponded with A. Goderic A. Hodges, a British Army officer who lost a leg while in balloon service.

To a limited extent there is information in the Loring B. Walton Series about Walton's literary and scholarly interests. A small quantity of correspondence is from authors such as Wilmon Brewer, Count Sforza, and Maurice Holleaux. Included is a letter written by Anatole France, which was given to Walton, and a handwritten, signed poem by Edmund Wilson. There are several draft versions of Walton's addresses or articles, mostly undated. While there are no papers or correspondence relating to Walton's study at the Sorbonne, one address refers to his living in the home of a French family and his observations of French culture and educational methods. This series also thinly documents his involvement with Duke University through the Interdenominational Church and the Erasmus Club, and his sabbatical in Europe while a member of the Department of Romance Languages.

Addition (03-053) (175 items, .2 lin. ft.; dated 1917-1968) comprises materials of Loring Baker Walton, and consists primarily of scholarly correspondence and materials concerning his work on Anatole France and other projects (1932-1968). Also includes his class notes from Harvard (1917-1918), and from his training and service with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. This addition is unprocessed.

Addition (08-184) (375 items, .4 lin. ft.; dated 1891-1980 and undated) contains primarily material related to Loring Baker Walton’s background and service with the AEF in WWI. Includes information regarding Walter family property settlements for land they owned in Germany that was damaged during WWII. There are also letters (1891-1951) for George E. and Eleanore C. Walter. This addition is unprocessed.