Personal: 1 linear foot, 1926-2002. This series documents Lee Walp's life beyond his book collection. There is a small amount of information about his education, with the rest pertaining to his adulthood. Correspondence, Family, and Marietta College comprise the bulk of the series.
Correspondence is arranged in chronological order, from 1950-2002. It is comprised of letters from friends, often with references to books they found they think Mr. Walp might wish to add to his collection, or questions about specific books that they own. There are also two letters from the Johnson White House, 1968 and 1969, thanking Mr. Walp for sending a copy of a book to the Johnson daughters, Luci Baines and Lynda Bird.
Family contains ancestral information and the items documenting the accomplishments of the Walp family. It includes a (disbound) scrapbook devoted to the athletic prowess of Esther Spargo "Sparkie" Walp. There is also material on daughter Esther Lee's activities in the book field as an employee for Houghton Mifflin, and also as a children's librarian. The family correspondence (1965-1997), is mostly from Esther Lee, who actively helped her father build the collection, but also includes letters from Mary and letters and drawings from the Walp's grandchildren. This subseries also includes autobiographical notes.
Marietta College documents Mr. Walp's time as a professor. It includes articles on his activities as a botany professor, a scientific article written by Walp, and another article that he illustrated. It also includes correspondence (1938-2002), both from college officials congratulating him for his work and from former students. It documents his participation in the Ohio Academy of Science, and being awarded a Ford Foundation grant for post-graduate study.
Photographs documents the Walp family throughout their lives, including a few photographs of a very young Lee and Sparkie. There are also photographs of Mr. Walp as a college student, a botany professor, and sharing his collection of children's literature with students.
Lee Walp was involved in many activities throughout the course of his life, not just botany and book collecting. A glimpse into his other pursuits is provided by the material from the Ohio Academy of Science, the Photographic Society, and material from his church, where he once gave a lecture on de Saint Exupéry's The Little Prince. Also of note are a botany notebook which includes many sketches by Mr. Walp, and two portraits of Lee and Sparkie, drawn in 1996.
