Wells, Frederick W. (Frederick Wilson), 1896-1979.

Frederick W. Wells was an attorney and housing specialist in New York City.

He was born in Tennessee, attended Wilberforce University, then Yale Law School, and later was a senior at Columbia University Law School. In 1924 he was assigned a dormitory room in Furnald Hall at Columbia University. Initially, white students assumed he was a janitor. When some white students from Kentucky associated with the Ku Klux Klan learned that Wells was a student, they circulated petitions for his removal from the dormitory. This was followed by death threats and a cross burning on the lawn outside Furnald Hall. Newspapers throughout the country headlined the story. The Dean of Columbia University's Law School, Herbert E. Hawkes supported Wells' residency on campus, as did many other Columbia University students.

Upon completion of his law studies, Wells worked as Industrial Secretary for the Urban League in California and directed his attention to housing for the disadvantaged and the African American poor. He later organized his own real estate managing and consulting firm in New York City. Working with city agencies, his efforts were instrumental in the building of Lenox Terrace and Delano Village in Harlem and the Carnes McKinney Apartments, a cooperative building in the Bronx.

From the description of Frederick W. Wells Papers, 1924. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122313948

Frederick W. Wells was an attorney and housing specialist in New York City. He was born in Tennessee, attended Wilberforce University, then Yale Law School, and later was a senior at Columbia University Law School. In 1924 he was assigned a dormitory room in Furnald Hall at Columbia University. Initially, white students assumed he was a janitor. When some white students from Kentucky associated with the Ku Klux Klan learned that Wells was a student, they circulated petitions for his removal from the dormitory. This was followed by death threats and a cross burning on the lawn outside Furnald Hall. Newspapers throughout the country headlined the story. The Dean of Columbia University's Law School, Herbert E. Hawkes supported Wells' residency on campus, as did many other Columbia University students.

Upon completion of his law studies, Wells worked as Industrial Secretary for the Urban League in California and directed his attention to housing for the disadvantaged and the African American poor. He later organized his own real estate managing and consulting firm in New York City. Working with city agencies, his efforts were instrumental in the building of Lenox Terrace and Delano Village in Harlem and the Carnes McKinney Apartments, a cooperative building in the Bronx.

From the guide to the Frederick W. Wells papers, 1924, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.)