Samuel Woodrow Williams
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Samuel Woodrow Williams was a Baptist minister, professor of philosophy and religion, and Civil Rights activist. Williams was born on February 12, 1912, in Sparkman (Dallas County) then grew up in Chicot County, Arkansas. An African American, Williams attended
Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...
where he received his bachelor's degree in philosophy and later attended
Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
earning his master's degree in divinity. Williams aided in the
Atlanta Student Movement The Atlanta Student Movement was formed in February 1960 in Atlanta, Georgia by students of the campuses Atlanta University Center (AUC). It was led by the Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR) and was part of the Civil Rights Mov ...
and helped found both the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., ...
(SCLC) and the Atlanta Summit Leadership Council, which then helped to organize the Atlanta branch of the Community Relations Commission (CRC). Simultaneously he was co-chairman of the Atlanta Summit Leadership Conference and acting president of the Atlanta Branch of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
(NAACP). In 1947, Williams became pastor at Friendship Baptist Church and lectured at more than 20 colleges and universities throughout the South preaching that men should lead their lives through principle and moral awareness. In his final years of life Williams expanded his sermons to focus on a non-violent approach, arguing that society is a slave to social systems, social patterns, and burdened by the anxiety to destroy one another. This message was conveyed through a sermon that he dedicated to
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
, entitled "He was no Criminal," in 1969. Williams died from complications as a result of a major operation. The Negro History Collection at Atpanta libraries was renamed the Samuel W. Williams Collection on Black America and is now housed at the
Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History is a special library within the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. It is in Atlanta's Sweet Auburn Historic District. The Auburn Avenue Research Library opened in 19 ...
, part of the
Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System The Fulton County Library System is a network of public libraries serving the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, both in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is administered by Fulton County. The system is composed of the Atlanta Central Libr ...
in Atlanta's Sweet Auburn Historic District.


Early life

Samuel Woodrow Williams was born in
Sparkman, Arkansas Sparkman is a city in Dallas County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 355 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 427 in 2010 United States Census, 2010. History Sparkman was established between 1911 and 1913 and was ...
in Dallas County on February 12, 1912. He was the oldest of eight children of Arthur William and Annie Willie Butler Williams. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, playing basketball and baseball as well as reading and writing.


Education

In 1932–1933, Williams attended the historically black
Philander Smith College Philander Smith University (previously Philander Smith College) is a private historically black college in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNC ...
in Little Rock and then transferred to
Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...
in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. Williams received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from Morehouse in 1937. Williams then earned his masters of divinity from
Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
from 1938 to 1942. He studied under Dr.
Alain Locke Alain LeRoy Locke (September 13, 1885 – June 9, 1954) was an American writer, philosopher, and educator. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect—the acknowledged " ...
and Dr. Benjamin E. Mays. He began doctoral studies at
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, but did not complete the program. He received an honorary doctorate from Arkansas Baptist College in 1960.


Morehouse College

After completing his formal educations Williams joined the faculty of
Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...
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. In 1963, Williams, as the head of the Department of Religion, expressed his concerns that there was only a minor in religion and of the absence of an 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.Jones, Edward. Candle in the Dark: A History of Morehouse College. Valley Forge, PA: The Judson Press, 1967. While teaching at Morehouse, Williams mentored Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook who later become the president of
Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of C ...
and the first black mayor of Atlanta,
Maynard Jackson Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. (March 23, 1938 – June 23, 2003) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 52nd mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 1974 to 1982, and again as the city's 54th mayor from 1990 to 1994. A member of the ...
. Williams is also credited as mentor and former teacher of
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
, leader in the Civil Rights Movement.


NAACP

In the 1950s Williams began his association with the Atlanta branch of the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
. He joined the executive branch and later became president in 1957. During his time as president Williams engaged in his first legal battle in January 1958 when the NAACP  filed suit against Atlanta's school board and forced it to begin what became a long and fraught process of compliance with
Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...
. After the
Montgomery Bus Boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social boycott, protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United ...
, Reverend John Porter and Williams filed suit against the segregated Atlanta trolley system with and won in 1959."Rev. Williams Elected Acting NAACP Head." Atlanta Daily World, April 3, 1970, p. 1. Williams and the NAACP pushed flr education reform, desegregation of hotels and restaurants, and challenged hotel misconduct and discrimination.


Atlanta Student Movement

Williams 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 and the
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
. As the NAACP president Williams pledged full support to this act of civil resistance. They conducted a
nonviolent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
protest and
civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...
that produced productive dialogues between activists and government authorities. Forms of protest and/or civil disobedience included
boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...
s 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). The SCLC is an African American Civil Rights organization that began in 1957. SCLC's goal is to form an organization whose trademark is of peace and non-violence. Although during the initial years of operation, leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Williams encountered repression from white organization, police and the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
. SCLC advocates for the involvement of churches in political activism. Members of the SCLC were harassed, threatened and attacked, yet Williams and others believed the church should continue to include social-political activity.


Other Social Services

Williams 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
boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...
s,
sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...
s, 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.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. In 1966 Mayor Ivan Allen  established the Community Relations Commission (CRC). Mayor Allen made Williams Vice Chair of the Atlanta branch. 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 proves the lack of minority hiring and the promotional practices of the city of Atlanta. This study was necessary in the CRC's argument in minority promotions.


Friendship Baptist Church

Friendship 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.Davis, John L. "Rev. Sam Williams Mourned by Thousands in Final Rites." Atlanta Daily World, October 13, 1970, p. 1.


Sermons

On February 19, 1969, Williams delivered a sermon on "A Challenge to Young Black College Students" stating that saying only Black teachers educate Black scholars is invalid and that good committed teachers regardless of color were needed. In his sermons, he stressed that the black community is in sophisticated evasion cloaked in the fragile robe of good faith. He wanted his audience to steer away from moral double takes that is eroding away the moral integrity of the nation. Although, Williams was pro-civil disobedience, he, on occasion, lead sermons asserting that the system of society allows for the murder of a man in order to preserve social collectivities. Williams also warned the system is what allowed the enslavement, and exploitation of Blacks due to white despising Blacks. Williams loath the way the system had set up artificial barriers to deny other men their God given right. After becoming pastor in 1954, Williams made vast improvements to the church such as building a low-rent apartment complex in 1969 and a parking lot that was paid off in 8 months. Williams continue to deliver sermons all across the country, however. Samuel Williams delivered a most-notable remarkable sermon on June 30, 1968, to an all white audience at All Saints Episcopal Church. There, he urged his audience to question what was their responsibility for justice, contending the power of deciding was in their field because they made up the vast majority. That is where he established his platform of schools should be a forum for the Christian's demand for justice.


Criticism and legacy

Samuel Woodrow William'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."


Awards

*
Alpha Kappa Delta Alpha Kappa Delta () is an international honor society of sociology. It was founded by Emory S. Bogardus at the University of Southern California in 1920.''Robson, John, ed. (1963). ''Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities'' (17th ed.) ...
national honorary sociological fraternity (initiation certificate) - 1948 * Atlanta Morehouse club distinguished service award - 1959 *
Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1914. The fraternity's founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to ...
citizenship award (Chi Chapter) - 1959 * YMCA century club award - 1959 * Atlanta branch NAACP plague for presidency - 1964 * NAACP Meritorious award - 1969 * Community relations commission post humous - 1970 * YMCA men's club international ( Omega Chapter) - 1970


Death

Williams died in October 1970 after a surgical procedure. He was buried at Atlanta's
South-View Cemetery South-View Cemetery is a historic African-American-founded cemetery located approximately 15 minutes from downtown Atlanta, Georgia. An active operational cemetery on over 100 acres of land, it is the oldest African-American cemetery in Atlanta, ...
.


Further reading

* Branch, Taylor. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–1963. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988. * 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. * "Historic Summit Here Seeks End to All Remaining Racial Barriers: Closed Summit to Take All Day." Atlanta Inquirer, October 19, 1963, pp. 1, 17. * Lee, Barry E. "'Bridge Over Troubled Waters': Samuel W. Williams and the Desegregation of Atlanta." Master's thesis, Georgia State University, 1995. * "Underdogs Have Defenders at City Hall." Atlanta Journal, October 4, 1970, p. 2A.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Samuel Woodrow 1912 births 1970 deaths African-American activists African-American Baptist ministers Howard University alumni Morehouse College alumni Morehouse College faculty NAACP activists Baptists from Maryland Burials at South-View Cemetery 20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States