Samuel Woodrow Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 12, 1912 |
| Died | October, 1970 |
| Education | Morehouse College, Howard University |
| Movement | Civil Rights Movement |
Samuel Woodrow Williams
editSamuel Woodrow Williams was an African American Baptist minister, professor of philosophy and religion , and Civil Rights activist. Williams was born on February 12, 1912 in Sparkman (Dallas County), Little Rock then grew up in Chicot County, Arkansas. Samuel Woodrow Williams attended Morehouse College where he received his bachelors in philosophy degree and later atteneded Howard University earning his masters of divinity.
Williams aided in Atlanta Student Movement, helped found Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) and Atlanta Summit Leadership Council then helped organize the Atlanta branch of Community Relations Commission (CRC). Simultaneously he was co- chairman of of the Atlanta Summit Leadership Conference and the acting president of the Atlanta Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
In 1947 Williams became pastor at Friendship Baptist Church and lectured at more than 20 colleges and universities throughout the South and also in Israel preaching that men should lead their lives through principle and moral awarness. In his final years of life Williams expanded his sermons to focus on a non-violent approach arguing that society is slaves to social systems, social patterns, and burdened by the anxiety to destroy one another as they seek to perpetuate the system; he said all this in a sermon he dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr, entitled “He was no Criminal” in 1969.[1] Williams died from complications as a result of major operation. Before his death in October of 1970, Williams became the youngest receipt to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
Early Life
editSamuel Woodrow Williams was born in a quiet county called Sparkman (Dallas County), Little Rock . He was born in February 12, 1912 as the oldest of eight children of Arthur William and Annie Willie Butler Williams. Growing up Williams enjoyed hunting, fishing, playing basketball and baseball as well as reading and writing.[1]
Education
editIn 1932-1933 he attended the historically black Philander Smith College in Little Rock and then transferred to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. At Morehouse College, Williams received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy in 1937. Williams went on earn his masters of divinity from Howard University from 1938-1942 where he was studied under Dr. Alain Locke and Dr. Benjamin E. Mays.
From there Williams undertook doctoral studies at University of Chicago but did not complete his doctorate program. However, he received an honorary doctorate from Arkansas Baptist Church in 1960.
Morehouse College
editAfter completing his formal educations Williams joined the faculty of Morehouse College in 1946 as the chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion. As chair of the department he wrote annual reports to the president and lead meetings on the improvement of the department and college as a whole.[1] In February 25, 1963, Williams, as the head of the Department of Religion, expressed his concerns that there was only to be a minor in religion, complaining of the absence of a honors program for the department. Williams wanted Morehouse to have religion at the center of its programs.
During his time at Morehouse, Williams earned a reputation of intellectually rigorous and demanding of his students.[2]
While teaching at Morehouse, Samuel W. Woodrow mentored the president of Samuel DuBois Cook who later become the president of Dillard University and the first black mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson. Williams is also credited as mentor and former teacher of Martin Luther King Jr, leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.[3]
NAACP
editIn the 1950s Williams began his association with the Atlanta branch of the NAACP. He joined the executive branch and later became president in 1957. During his time as president WIlliams engaged in his first legal battle. Williams was inspired by the Montgomery Bus Boycott and filed a suit against the segregated Atlanta trolley system with Reverend John Porter and won in 1959.[4]
In January of 1958 the NAACP filed suit against the Atlanta school board and forced it to begin the long and difficult process of compliance with Brown v. Board of Education.
Williams and the NAACP put into practice education reform, desegregation of hotels and restaurants, and challenging hotel misconduct and use of discrimination.
Atlanta Student Movement
editWilliams played a key role in the Atlanta Student Movement. The movement was characterized by an appeal that composed both their complaints as well as their desired goals for proposed change. Williams was one of the adults that encouraged students to draft “An Appeal for Human Rights,” the manifesto of the Atlanta Student Movement. This appeal was published in early March 1960 in the Atlanta newspapers[5] and the New York Times.[4]
As the NAACP president Williams pledged full support to this act of civil resistance. They conducted a nonviolent protest and civil disobedience that produced productive dialogues between activists and government authorities. Forms of protest and/or civil disobedience included boycotts and sit ins that contributed to the Civil Rights Movement.
During the same year Williams became a founding member and a vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC).
Other Social Services
editWilliams helped found the Atlanta Summit Leadership Council (ASLC). During the 1960s and 1970s the ASLC pressured the school board and city to end segregation emphasizing boycotts, sit-ins, marches, and similar tactics that relied on mass mobilization, nonviolent resistance, and civil disobedience.Through the ASLC Williams led campaigns to expose the city of Atlanta and fought to expand mass transit into the predominantly African-American west side of the city.[6]
In 1966 Mayor Ivan Allen established the Community Relations Commission (CRC). Mayor Allen made Williams Vice Chair of the Atlanta branch.[7] The organization gave grassroots communities a mechanism to voice their concerns to city officials at the highest level.The organization worked for ending discriminatory hiring and promotions at City Hall. The CRC under Williams conducted a study that shows the lack of minority hiring and the promotional practices of the city of Atlanta.
Friendship Baptist Church
editFriendship Baptist Church is one of the most prominent black baptist churches in Atlanta founded in 1865. In 1947 Williams became assistant pastor of Friendship Baptist Church. Later to become Senior Pastor Williams was one of the most activist-oriented pastors in Friendship’s history.[8]
On February 19, 1969, Williams delivers a sermon on “A Challenge to Young Black College Students.” In this, he asserts that saying only Black teachers educate Black scholars is invalid but what he believes is needed is for good committed teachers regardless of color.
Criticism and Legacy
editWilliam's legacy was his contribution to the Civil Rights Movement and sermons at Friendship Baptist Church. He had, however, left an almost forgotten legacy of racial progress in Atlanta. Young men in his community critiqued him as dictatorial and an ineffective leader. Others accused him of failing to hold elections and of supporting a public housing controversy.Williams was also criticized for supporting white officials in the firing of Eliza Paschall, director of the CRC who was too “pro-black.”
Williams died in October 1970 after a surgical procedure
- ^ a b c Wells, Rosa Marie, "Samuel Woodrow Williams, catalyst for black atlantans, 1946-1970" (1975). ETD Collection for AUC Robert W. Woodru Library. Paper 687.
- ^ Jones, Edward. Candle in the Dark: A History of Morehouse College. Valley Forge, PA: The Judson Press, 1967.
- ^ Samuel W. Williams Papers. Archives Research Center, Robert W. Woodruff Library. Atlanta University Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
- ^ a b “Rev. Williams Elected Acting NAACP Head.” Atlanta Daily World, April 3, 1970, p. 1.
- ^ “Historic Summit Here Seeks End to All Remaining Racial Barriers: Closed Summit to Take All Day.” Atlanta Inquirer, October 19, 1963, pp. 1, 17.
- ^ Fort, Vincent. “The Atlanta Sit-In Movement, 1960–1961.” In Atlanta, Georgia, 1960–1961: Sit-Ins and Student Activism, ed. David Garrow. New York: Carlson Publishing, 1989.
- ^ Allen, Ivan, Jr., with Paul Hemphill. Mayor: Notes on the Sixties. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971.
- ^ Davis, John L. “Rev. Sam Williams Mourned by Thousands in Final Rites.” Atlanta Daily World, October 13, 1970, p. 1.