Clara Belle Williams (October 29, 1885 – July 3, 1994) was the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

graduate of New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

), became an educator, and raised three sons who became doctors.

Early life and marriage

Williams was born Clara Belle Drisdale in

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, on October 29, 1885. She pursued her education on scholarship at the Prairie View Normal and Independent College, graduating as valedictorian in 1905. In 1910, she studied at

The University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, near the shore of Lake Michigan about fr ...

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, Illinois. She married Jasper Williams in 1917 and they had three sons.

College and graduate studies, teaching

In 1928 Williams enrolled at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. She earned her diploma with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1937, at the age of 51. She was the first African-American to graduate from the New Mexico College. For the duration of her studies, professors did not allow her into the lecture halls; she took notes and attended classes in the hallway. Williams continued her studies with graduate classes into the 1950s. Williams taught at Lincoln High School, which opened in an A.M.E. Church in Las Cruces after the institution of segregation removed African-American students from integrated Las Cruces schools in the 1920s when state law allowed districts to segregate. She later taught at Booker T. Washington School in Las Cruces for over twenty years, after it opened in the 1930s.

Family and legacy

All three of her sons became doctors: Jasper Jr., James, and Charles. Williams worked as a receptionist for her sons' practices. In 1961, New Mexico State University named a street on its campus after Williams. In 1977, she was inducted into the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college st ...

teachers' hall of fame. In 1980 Williams was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws degree by New Mexico State University, which also apologized for the treatment Williams was subjected to as a student. In 2005 the building of the university's English department was renamed Clara Belle Williams Hall. New Mexico State University offers a scholarship for undergraduates in her memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Clara Belle 1885 births 1994 deaths African-American schoolteachers Schoolteachers from New Mexico New Mexico State University alumni People from Fayette County, Texas 20th-century American educators University of Chicago alumni 20th-century American women educators 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American educators American women centenarians