Williams, Charl Ormond, 1885-1969
Name Entries
person
Williams, Charl Ormond, 1885-1969
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Surname :
Williams
Forename :
Charl Ormond
Date :
1885-1969
eng
Latn
authorizedForm
rda
Genders
Female
Exist Dates
Biographical History
Williams’s rapid rise in political patronage-ridden Shelby County indicates that her family enjoyed good relations with E. H. Crump’s political machine. Williams became the first Tennessee woman to serve on the Democratic National Committee. She later served as a delegate to the 1920 National Convention and became the first woman in either major party to serve as national vice-chairman. Williams worked closely with the Shelby County delegation in the struggle for the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. She remained active in Democratic politics and enjoyed a close friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt in later years.
Williams’s talent and experience in partisan politics also served her well in her professional career. In 1921 the National Education Association (NEA) elected her to the presidency, making her the youngest, the first rural, and the first southern woman so elected. The success of her tenure as president immediately led to a salaried position with the NEA as national field secretary. She served with distinction in that office until she retired, traveling thirty to fifty thousand miles per year, lecturing, serving on a variety of boards and committees, and writing numerous articles and two books on educational reform.
In 1935 Williams was elected president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, the first educator to hold that post. The College of William and Mary awarded Williams an honorary Phi Beta Kappa membership, and Southwestern (now Rhodes) College granted her an honorary doctorate. Following her 1950 retirement, Williams took a ten-thousand-mile tour of the Soviet Union, parts of the Near East, and Greece. Williams died on January 14, 1969, in Washington. Her papers are held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.
eng
Latn
External Related CPF
https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n91053329
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10570967
https://viaf.org/viaf/4109557
https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n91053329
https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n91053329
Other Entity IDs (Same As)
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Internal CPF Relations
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Languages Used
eng
Latn
Subjects
Education
Education
Church and state
Church and state
Depressions
Educational change
Educational change
Education and state
Education, Rural
Education, Rural
Indians of North America
People with disabilities
Presidents
Presidents' spouses
Public welfare
Segregation in education
Segregation in education
Voyages and travels
Women
Nationalities
Americans
Activities
Occupations
Educators
Legal Statuses
Places
Washington, D. C.
DC, US
AssociatedPlace
Death
Tennessee
TN, US
AssociatedPlace
Birth
Convention Declarations
<conventionDeclaration><citation>VIAF</citation></conventionDeclaration>