A former aide to Martin Luther King Jr., Atlanta’s Hosea Williams is a civil rights icon. Arrested more than 125 times, Williams quickly earned a reputation as a fearless leader for the cause. He helped coordinate 1965′s march from Selma to Montgomery and was the executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. All of that, of course, only scratches the surface.
Born in Decatur County, Williams left home after nearly being lynched for his “alleged involvement with a white girl.” He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in an all-Black unit with General George Patton’s Third Army during the outset of Word War II.
Williams was injured during combat. He spent a year in a military hospital and was awarded the Purple Heart for the injury, which left with a limp. After rejoining civilian life and completing a degree in chemistry, Williams became a chemist for U.S. Department of Agriculture in Savannah. After spending five weeks hospitalized from a beating for drinking from a “whites only” water fountain and having to appeal being fired from the Department of Agriculture for speaking out against government policies, Williams began focusing his attention to civil rights action.
As a result of his efforts, Savannah became the first city in Georgia to desegregate lunch counters. Williams also helped to integrate Tybee Island’s public beach and the South’s first ever passenger train, the Nancy Hanks.
Williams worked closely with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and with Martin Luther King Jr. through the years. After King’s death in 1968, Williams became the executive director of the SCLC — a position he held until 1979. In 1974, Williams succeeded in his first run in electoral politics, winning a seat in the Georgia General Assembly.
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