Hazel Browne Williams (February 9, 1907 – July 7, 1986) was an American educator. She was the first full-time African American professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and the first African American awarded emeritus status there.
Hazel Browne Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hazel Browne February 9, 1907 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | July 7, 1986 (aged 79) |
| Resting place | Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Kansas New York University (Ph.D.) |
| Occupation | Educator |
| Spouse |
Claude Williams (died 1937) |
Early life and education
editHazel Browne was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on February 9, 1907.[1] She was the only child of John and Effie Moten Browne.[1]
She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1923.[2] While at Lincoln High, she served as the first woman sponsor major of the school's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC).[3]
Williams studied English at the University of Kansas and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society.[4] She earned her bachelor's degree in 1927, and continued at the university to earn a master's degree in English in 1929.[1] Her master's thesis was titled "The Difficulty of the King James Version of the Bible for the Modern Reader."[5] Williams would later go on to earn another master's degree in guidance counseling from Columbia University, where she was elected to the honor society Kappa Delta Pi.[1][6] She was the first recipient of foreign fellowships awarded by Alpha Kappa Alpha;[6] she studied for a doctorate in Germany until her work was disrupted by the outbreak of World War II.[7] Williams received her Ph.D. from New York University in 1953; her doctoral thesis was titled "A Semantic Study of Some Current Pejoratively Regarded Language Symbols Involving Negroes in the United States: An Approach to Intergroup Conflict Through a Study of Language Behavior".[6]
Early in her career she married Claude Williams, a principal at Leeds Junior High School; he died in 1937.[1]
Career and later life
editWilliams began her career teaching at Louisville Municipal College in 1932.[8] She was an assistant professor of English (later assistant professor of modern languages) who also taught German and established a German Studies department at the college.[2] She returned to Kansas City to teach in 1942.[6] In the 1940s to early 1950s she was working as a counselor at the R. T. Coles Vocational and Junior High School, where she took leave from June 1948 until September 1951 to pursue her Ph.D.[6] She was recognized as the first Black instructor in the Kansas City School District to hold a Ph.D.[9]
Williams became an exchange teacher through the Fulbright Program in 1956, teaching English at a girls' secondary school in Vienna.[2][7]
She was hired by the University of Missouri–Kansas City in 1958 as an associate professor of education, becoming a full professor in secondary education two years later.[2] In this role she was the first African American full-time professor at the university.[2] She served on the school's faculty for 18 years.[2] Her research interests included speech patterns of young children and language development; after 1970 most of her research efforts were associated with the project "Black Educators Prior to 1954," highlighting the neglected accomplishments of Black educators.[5] When she retired in 1976, Williams became the first African American awarded emeritus status by the University of Kansas.[8] Her career was recognized by the University of Missouri in 1977 with the Thomas Jefferson award.[5]
Williams died on July 7, 1986, and was buried at Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Riley, Kimberly R. (February 23, 2018). "Hazel Browne Williams". The Pendergast Years. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Hazel B. Williams, Kansas City Educator born". African American Registry. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- ^ Riley, Kimberly R. (1999). "Biography of Hazel Browne Williams (1907-1986), Educator". KC History. Kansas City Public Library. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- ^ "Hazel Browne Williams". Kansas City Black History. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- ^ a b c Crawford, Mark (February 9, 2017). "In Honor of African-American History Month". Old School: The UMKC University Archives Blog. University of Missouri-Kansas City Archives. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Mrs. Hazel Browne Williams Gets Ph.D.". [unknown Kansas City newspaper]. March 13, 1953.
- ^ a b "Will Teach in Austria School". Chicago Defender. October 31, 1956. p. 3.
- ^ a b Kansas City Black History : The African American Story of History and Culture in Our Community (PDF). Kansas City, Missouri: Black Archives of Mid-America Kansas City. 2020. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- ^ "A token from fellow workers for her achievement". Kansas City Call. May 8, 1953.