Mary Perkins-Williams was born in Pitt County, North Carolina, the youngest of five siblings. Her parents were Mary and the Reverend Jasper Perkins, both farmers. Perkins-Williams was a graduate of Bethel Union High School, North Carolina Central University (BS) and the University of South Carolina at Columbia (MS). She is the mother of two children, Klarissa Tyree Barnes and Eric Tyrone Williams, and grandmother of seven. She has been a member of Fleming Chapel Original Free Will Baptist Church for many years.
Perkins-Williams served as a faculty member at East Carolina University in Joyner Library from 1970-1998. Having been very involved for years in public service, her current positions as of 2016 include Regional East Director of the North Carolina African American Caucus, Regional Director of Pitt County Board of Social Service, member of the Greenville Fair Housing Task Force, Chair of Greenville 1 Precinct, and Pitt County Commissioner, representing District 2.
