Mamie Luella Williams was born in Greenwood, South Carolina in 1894. She moved with her family to Topeka, Kansas in 1899. In 1900 the family bought a house on Quincy Street. Mamie never left Quincy Street and her life there was the subject of a 1976 television special entitled "75 Years on Quincy Street." Mamie received her education at Highland Park School, Garfield School and Topeka High School. She graduated with honors from Washburn University in 1915 and began her teaching career at Lane College in Jackson, Mississippi that same year. With the aid of her father she was elected to the Topeka Public School System in 1918 where she would teach for the next 42 years until her retirement in 1960. During the summer months she returned to Lane College as professor of education starting in 1925. She also taught at Texas College from 1928 to 1930 and spent four summers at Columbia University in New York where she earned a "Teacher of Education" diploma in 1924. Mamie taught in the Topeka Public School System for 25 and a half years. She taught at Buchanan School, was transferred to Washington School as Assistant Principal in 1943, was principal of Washington School and Monroe School. In 1956 Mamie traveled around the world gathering information for presentations to students and local groups. After Mamie retired from the Topeka School System, she remained active in church and community affairs. In 1965 she was appointed to the Kansas Commission on the Status of Women, served as a delegate to the 1971 White House Conference on Aging, and was active on the Senior Citizens Advisory Council for the Republican Party for Kansas from 1974 to 1976. During her career, Mamie created the A.A.U.W. Mamie L. Williams Fellowship Award at Washburn University in 1968 and received the Washburn University Distinguished Service Award in 1973. Mamie died in 1986.
From the description of Mamie L. Williams papers, 1913-1979. (Kansas State Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 54404384
