Rollin Williams

Rollin Charles Williams (March 19, 1922 – September 24, 2012) was an American educator who served as Professor of Social Work at the University of Connecticut from 1957 to 1985.[1] A World War II veteran, Williams was the university's first African American professor.[2]

Rollin Charles Williams
Williams in 1943
Born(1922-03-19)March 19, 1922
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
DiedSeptember 24, 2012(2012-09-24) (aged 90)
Waterford, Connecticut, USA
EducationHoward University (BS)
Boston University (MS)
OccupationProfessor of Social Work
EmployerUniversity of Connecticut
Norwich State Hospital

Life and career

Williams was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to parents Rollin and Ruby Williams on March 19, 1922.[3] He was raised by his maternal grandparents in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was high school valedictorian, solo violinist in the school orchestra, and Oklahoma state typewriting champion. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Howard University and then served in the US Army from 1943 to 1946, starting out as a clerk typist and concluding his military career as a sergeant major in personnel. While stationed at Camp Clipper, California, during World War II, Williams spent weekends in Los Angeles and once sat next to Lena Horne at a party.[4] He went on to earn a Master of Science in social work from Boston University in 1949.[1][5][6]

After earning his degree, Williams worked as a psychiatric social worker at US Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Northport, New York. In 1952, he became the first supervisor of psychiatric services at Norwich State Hospital.[2] After two years of overseeing placements of students from UConn's School of Social Work, located in Hartford, Williams was recruited to join the university's faculty in 1957.[7] He took a one-year leave of absence in 1967–68 to pursue doctoral studies at Columbia University School of Social Work.[8]

Williams taught at UConn for almost thirty years and was the university's first African American professor. Promoted from assistant to associate professor by 1974, Williams served stints as interim dean and as director of the school's admissions office. In retirement, he held the rank of professor emeritus.[1][2] The Rollin Williams/Y.C. Wu Scholarship for doctoral students at the School of Social Work was established partly in his honor.[9]

Following the passage of affirmative action laws in the 1960s, Williams received job offers from five other universities eager to recruit African American faculty.[10] He declined these offers, commenting in a 2012 interview that "I wouldn’t take those jobs because UConn took me when it didn’t have to.”[1] Williams left a substantial bequest to the university in his will.[5]

Personal life

During his academic career and retirement, Williams lived in Salem, Connecticut. He served on the Dime Savings Bank board of directors. An aficionado of opera, classical music, and rhythm and blues, Williams played the organ and oboe in addition to the violin and co-founded the Connecticut Early Music Society. He dressed stylishly and drove a Mercedes car. He never married and had no children.[2] His friends included poets and musicians such as William Meredith, Meredith's partner Richard Harteis, James Merrill, Kent Tritle, and Tritle's partner Arthur Fiacco.[3][2]

Williams died of congestive heart failure[2] at a nursing home in Waterford, Connecticut, on September 24, 2012.[3] He was interred at the State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown.[11]

References
  1. Poitras, Colin (2012-09-28). "University's First African-American Professor Dies". UConn Today. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  2. Hamilton, Anne M. (2012-10-28). "Rollin Williams: A Pioneering Professor, And A Stylish Lover Of Culture". The Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  3. "Rollin Williams Obituary (2012) - The Day". www.legacy.com. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  4. Matthews Jr, Lopez D. (2018). Howard University in the World Wars: Men and Women Serving the Nation. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-6494-0.
  5. "Breaking Barriers, Giving Back". UConn Today. 12 (3). 2011. p. 49. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  6. "Boston University School of Social Work Currents Spring 2011". Issuu. 2011. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  7. Smith, Laura (2015-02-16). "Rollin Charles Williams, UConn's first African-American professor". Archives and Special Collections Blog. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  8. "Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the University of Connecticut, held in Storrs, May 17, 1967". Open Commons @ UConn. 1967-05-17. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  9. "UConn School of Social Work PhD Program: Rollin Williams/Y.C. Wu Scholarship" (PDF). University of Connecticut School of Social Work. 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  10. "In Memoriam: Rollin Charles Williams, 1922-2012". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  11. "Rollin C Williams (1922-2012) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
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