Historical note:

            Warren Walden (1904-1987) was a life-long resident of Providence. He was an amateur athlete, radio commentator, and sportscaster. He became secretary of the Tim O'Neil amateur baseball league in 1921, a position he kept until 1955 when he became president.

            Walden became the sports commentator for WEAN in 1939, and stayed in that position until 1950 when he became sports director of WJAR. He also served as station manager and public relations director for the Outlet company, which owned the station.

            Walden was actively involved in fund-raising for the Cystic Fibrosis organization. He also was involved with the March of Dimes, Catholic Youth Organization, the Jimmy Fund, the American Cancer Society and St. Vincent's Assembly. Walden won numerous awards throughout his lifetime, including the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and the American Legion. He was elected to the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1979.

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Scope and content:

            This majority of this collection consists of newspaper clippings compiled about various sporting events by Walden. It also includes the numerous awards won by Walden, and speaking engagements he was involved in. Also included in this collection are abundant radio scripts, which include odd sports stories and trivia.

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Provenance:

            This collection was donated in 1988 by Warren Walden's daughter, Dorothy Gold. Two additional letters dated 3/29/1949 and 9/12/1969 were donated by Dale Collett in 2001. He had received them as a gift from Walden's heirs, in appreciation for his assistance with the sale of the estate.

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Processing note:

            The clippings were unfolded, sorted by subject, and placed in alphabetical order into an acid-free box and folders. Three copies of the Scimitar, the official publication of the Palestine Temple (Shriners) of Cranston, R.I., were transferred to the Printed Collection (dated 9/1965, 5/1966, and 9/1970).

            Two scrapbooks relating to Edward Fay and his chain of movie theaters were found filed with the collection. These bear no apparent relationship to Walden, and seem to have been accidentally separated from a large collection of Fay's papers. They have been transferred to the Fay Theatre Papers, and now constitute Box 1A of that collection.

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Inventory:

Box 1:

Folder #1: Articles about Warren Walden (1950-1987)

Folder #2: Baseball (1963-1964)

Folder #3: Basketball (1965)

Folder #4: Boxing & Wrestling (1959-1983)

Folder #5: Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) (1968)

Folder #6: Football (1964)

Folder #7: Letters

Folder #8: Miscellaneous (1907-1981)

Folders #9, 10, 11: Odd Stories & Trivia (1956-1959)

Folder #12: Outlet (1968-1980)

Folder #13: Polo (1921, 1926, 1934-35, 1960, 1963-64)

Folder #14: Radio Scripts (1946-1975)

Folder #15: Shriners (1965-66, 1970)

Folder #16: Speaking Engagements (1949-50, 1959, 1968, 1979)

Box 2:

Folder #17: Warren Walden's Columns (1961-1986)

Scrapbook: Articles by Warren Walden

Scrapbook: Roller polo articles

Scrapbook: Roller polo articles

Scrapbook: Baseball, football, and theater articles. Drawings by Walden

Oversized scrapbook #1: Newspaper articles, speaking engagements, press releases. 1953-1959

Oversized scrapbook #2: Newspaper articles, speaking engagements, press releases. 1959-1962

Oversized scrapbook #3: Articles by Tim O'Neil, 1931

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Subjects:

Distributive Education Clubs of America

O'Neil, Tim

Radio broadcasters - Rhode Island - Providence

Sports - Rhode Island - Providence

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RIHS1822