User:Mr ektid/sandbox

Lester Aglar Walton (1882 – 1965) was an American diplomat to Liberia.

Walton is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the first inter-collegiate Greek letter organization established for African Americans.

Early Life
In Lester's late teens and early 1920's, he was active in a variety of entertainment fields. During 1914 to 1916 he was the manager at Harlem's Lafayette theater and from 1919 to 1921, he became the dramatic lyricist for the theater.

Career
Lester A. Walton began his first career as golf writer at St. Louis Star, from 1902 until 1906. He also worked as a court reporter for the St. Louis Star. By 1908, Walton moved to New York and became a manager and a theatrical editor for the New York Age.He pursued a career in journalism which helped him became a writer for The New York World from 1922 to 1931. in 1932, Walton returned to serve as an associate editor of the New York Age. His career as a journalist and his interest in world affairs encouraged him to attend the Versailles Peace Conference as a correspondent in 1920. Walton had a special interest in Liberia in 1933, and he visited the country and wrote an article for the Age and New York Herald Tribune. In July 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him the United State minister and served as advisor to the Liberian delegation to the United State from 1948 to 1949.

Human Rights
Lester Walton was an original member of the Commission on Intergroup Relations, which was founded in 1955 by a New York City agency and later in the 1960's became known as the Commission on Human Rights.

Political Views
Walton's career in politics began in 1913 and with the assistance from the associated press, he launched a movement for the universal spelling of the word Negro to begin with the capital "N". [7] He was also an active democrat who served as director of publicity in the Colored Division of the Democratic National Committee during 1924, 1928 and 1932.