Samuel Woodrow Williams (1912 - 1970)

Born 20 Feb 1912 in Sparkman, Dallas, Arkansas, United States

Husband of Eleanor Virginia (Golar) Williams — married 8 Dec 1943 (to before 1965) in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Descendants

Died 10 Oct 1970 at age 58 in Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, United States

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Biography

Samuel Williams is Notable.

Samuel Woodrow Wilson was an educator, pastor, and advocate for national civil rights and social reform.

Family

Samuel Woodrow Williams was born on February 20, 1912, in Sparkman, Arkansas. He was the oldest of the eight children of Arthur Williams and Annie Willie Butler. In 1920, Samuel (age 7) was shown as the son of Arthur Williams in Sparkman, Dallas, Arkansas.^[1]

On 28 December 1943, Samuel married Eleanor Virginia Golar in the District of Columbia, United States.^[2] In 1951, he was shown as husband of Eleanor in an Atlanta, Georgia directory.^[3] Eleanor died (age 87) on 16 January 2011.^[4]

While he was a Morehouse College philosophy professor, he met Billye Suber who was going for her post-graduate degree. At some point, he married Billye Suber who subsequently married Hank Aaron after Williams's death. (Some sources indicate that Ceci Williams Haydel is the daughter of Williams). ^[5]

Education

In 1932–33, Samuel attended the historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) [Philander Smith College] in Little Rock (Pulaski County) and subsequently transferred to another HBCU ( Morehouse College) in Atlanta, earning a bachelor's degree and then pursuing a bachelor's and master's of divinity at still another HBCU (Howard University) from 1938 to 1942. ^[6]

He also undertook doctoral studies at the University of Chicago, but did not complete the PhD.

Education Career

In 1946, Williams was a chaplain and professor at HBCUs Alcorn College and Alabama A&M University. In 1963, he was chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Morehouse College, where he acquired a reputation of being intellectually tough and demanding of his students.

He mentored pupils who became major leaders, such as Samuel DuBois Cook, (the first black president of Dillard University), Maynard Jackson, (Atlanta's first black mayor), and Martin Luther King Jr. Williams had a close bond with the King family, and was one of two faculty members present during King's ordination in 1948. In the fall of 1961, he co-taught a senior-level philosophy seminar with King. While at Morehouse, King also studied philosophy with Williams.

Pastoral Career

Williams was also a local Baptist pastor (1954-1970) of one of the most prominent black Baptist churches in Atlanta: Friendship Baptist Church, founded in 1865. As Pastor, he mentored personal friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., former Atlanta mayor Maynard H. Jackson. During his twenty-four years in Atlanta, he became a nationally recognized figure for his community and civic efforts. Williams returned to Morehouse College in Atlanta after completing his official schooling in 1947.

Atlanta: Friendship Baptist Church nurtured Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Atlanta University in their early days. In 1947, Williams became assistant pastor of Friendship, and when senior pastor Maynard Jackson Sr., the father of Atlanta's first black mayor, died in 1954, Williams became acting pastor and then the permanent replacement.

Civil Rights Activism

Williams was long associated with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Atlanta branch, first becoming president in 1957, and then three more terms—1959, 1960, and 1965. In 1957, he and others sued the Atlanta trolley system, and won in 1959. During Williams's tenure, the NAACP sued the Atlanta school board in January 1958 to comply with Brown v. Board of Education. Although the schools did not desegregate until after he died, Williams provided much of the impetus.

He was one of the founders of the Atlanta Summit Leadership Council (ASLC), which pressured the school board and city to end segregation, mitigate poverty, and expand mass transit into African-American areas of Atlanta.

In late 1966, he was appointed by Mayor Ivan Allen to be vice chair of the Community Relations Commission (CRC). The CRC provided grassroots activists with a means to elevate concerns to city officials. He eventually became chair of the CRC and established town hall meetings, human-relations workshops for city managers, and made recommendations to eliminate discriminatory City Hall hiring and promotions.

Awards and Honors

• In 1960 he received an honorary doctorate from Arkansas Baptist College.
• In September 1973, Atlanta installed his portrait in City Hall symbolizing the impact of his life on the people of Atlanta.
• In 2009, he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame].

Death

Samuel Williams died on October 10, 1970, after a surgical procedure.^[7] He is buried in South View Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ 1920 Census: "1920 United States Federal Census"
   Year: 1920; Census Place: Sparkman, Dallas, Arkansas; Roll: T625_61; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 33
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6061 #2076062 (accessed 4 February 2022)
   Samuel Williams (7), single son, in household of Arthur Williams (33) in Sparkman, Dallas, Arkansas. Born in Arkansas.

   Name	Age	Relation
   Arthur Williams	33	Head
   Annie Williams	32	Wife
   Samuel Williams	7	Son
   Sterling Williams	6	Son
   Chester Williams	4	Son
   Ambrose Williams	3	Son
   James Williams	1	Son
   Catherine Williams	77	Mother

2. ↑ First Marriage: "Washington, D.C., U.S., Marriage Records, 1810-1953"
   Ancestry Record 61404 #447342 (accessed 4 February 2022)
   Samuel Woodrow Williams (31) marriage to Eleanor Virginia Golar on 28 Dec 1943 in District of Columbia, USA.
3. ↑ 1951 Directory: "U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995"
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2469 #1245965760 (accessed 4 February 2022)
   Name: Eleanor G Williams; Gender: Female; Residence Year: 1951; Street Address: 863 Fair SW; Residence Place: Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Spouse: Samuel W Williams; Publication Title: Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory, 1951.
4. ↑ Death of First Wife: "U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014"
   Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File
   Ancestry Record 3693 #89388221 (accessed 4 February 2022)
   Eleanor Golar Willia death 16 Jan 2011.
5. ↑ https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/billye-jewel-aaron
6. ↑ 1940 Census of Washington, District of Columbia, : "1940 United States Federal Census"
   (In the 1940 census Samuel (age 26) he was shown as a lodger of Howard Thurman in Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia). Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00570; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 1-513 Ancestry Record 2442 #1039514

   Name:	Samuel Williams
   Age:	26
   Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1914
   Gender:	Male
   Race:	Negro (Black)
   Birthplace:	Arkansas
   Marital Status:	Single
   Relation to Head of House:	Lodger
   Home in 1940:	Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia
   Attended School or College:	Yes
   Highest Grade Completed:	College, 5th or subsequent year

7. ↑ "United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5SG-9M9X : 18 July 2020), Dr Samuel W Williams, 1970.
8. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV21-C57S : 8 August 2020), Samuel Woodrow Williams, ; Burial, Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, United States of America, South View Cemetery; citing record ID 84142063, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

• Allen, Ivan, Jr., with Paul Hemphill. Mayor: Notes on the Sixties. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971.
• Austin T. Walden Papers. Atlanta Historical Society, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Branch, Taylor. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–1963. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988.
• Davis, John L. "Rev. Sam Williams Mourned by Thousands in Final Rites." Atlanta Daily World, October 13, 1970, p. 1.
• https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/samuel-woodrow-williams-529/
• Find A Grave: Memorial #84142063
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Woodrow_Williams