Daniel Thomas Williams Jr. (1932–2010) was an American archivist and historian. He was the first African American to be honored as a fellow of the

Society of American Archivists The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual archivist and institutional members. Established in 1936, the organi ...

and was Head University Librarian at

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was d ...

from 1968 to 1999.

Personal life and education

Williams was born on September 20, 1932, to Willie Mae and Daniel T. Williams Sr. and grew up in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. He had two brothers, Emmett J. and Rodney M. Williams. He graduated from West Virginia State College, now University, in 1956 with majors in Spanish and History. One year later, he received his Master's in Library Science from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

. He later returned to graduate school and graduated from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

with a certificate in archival administration in 1968. Williams did post-graduate work at both the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. He returned once again for his doctorate from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

in Alabama, where he graduated in 1987. He retired in 1999 when he was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. He died on June 24, 2010, in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

Career

With his master's, he was hired right after graduation at the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

as a serials librarian in 1957. He later advanced to the position of Director of the university's Professional Libraries in 1966 and later, the University Archivist in 1969. Among many projects and responsibilities at Tuskegee, he became the curator for th
Daniel James Memorial Hall in 1987
He also served as an Assistant Professor and continued to work in the Archives throughout his time there. He retired in 1999.

Affiliations

* In 1972, Williams was part of the US Delegation of the World Congress on Archives, which met in Moscow. * Consultant for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social Change * Consultant for the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Manuscript Division

Awards

* Academy of Certified Archivists, 1989 * Fellow of the

, 1992

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Daniel University of Illinois School of Information Sciences alumni Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Florida Deaths from dementia in Florida African-American archivists American archivists African-American historians 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers West Virginia State University alumni 1932 births 2010 deaths Tuskegee University faculty Auburn University alumni American University alumni Writers from Miami Fellows of the Society of American Archivists Historians from Florida 20th-century American male writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics African-American male writers