Walter Edwards

Walter Edwards (1891-1972) was an African American entrepreneur and real estate developer. He owned several businesses in the Oklahoma City area prior to the stock market crash of 1929, but lost most of his fortune in the crash. Edwards then made another fortune afterwards with his scrap metal business. He later developed real estate in the northeast part of Oklahoma City. Many of his businesses offered services and housing to African American who otherwise would have been denied those things due to segregation.

After Edwards' wife fell ill and was treated at the Mayo Clinic, he realised that many members of his community would not have been able to afford the type of care that his wife had needed nor would they have been able to receive it in the segregated hospitals of Oklahoma City. He later had Edwards Memorial Hospital built in northeast Oklahoma City to serve the African American community. Edwards Avenue and Edwards Park are named for him.