Rita Dolores Walters (née White; August 14, 1930 – February 17, 2020) was an American politician.

Political career

Walters served on the Board of Library Commissioners for the

Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California, operating separate from the Los Angeles County Public Library system. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million resid ...

. Prior to this position, she served on the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

representing the 9th district from 1991 to 2001. During that time, she chaired the Arts, Health & Humanities Committee where she reviewed matters related to the Library Department. She was the first African-American woman elected to the City Council. Prior to this job, she was on the Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education (1979–1991). Walters was also a teacher in the adult division of the Los Angeles School District for four years.

Background

Walters was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and moved with her parents and family to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. She moved to Los Angeles in 1955, and there she met and married Wilbur E. Walters. They had three children: David, Susan, and Philip. She died in Los Angeles while in hospice care from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Education

Walters graduated with a bachelor's degree in education from

Shaw University Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the fo ...

and had an MBA from the

UCLA Anderson School of Management The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management (branded as UCLA Anderson) is the graduate business school at the University of California, Los Angeles. The school offers MBA (full-time, part-time, executive), Post Graduate Program for Executi ...

Recognition

In 2009, Walters was recognized on the popular podcast, 'Vaguely Live Radio', as part of the feature 'Jimmy's Random Wikipedia Page of the Week'.

References

---- 1930 births 2020 deaths African-American city council members in California California Democrats Deaths from dementia in California Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in California Los Angeles City Council members Politicians from Chicago School board members in California Shaw University alumni UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni Women city councillors in California 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians {{California-politician-stub