Cecil J. Williams
| Cecil J. Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1937 (age 79–80) Orangeburg, South Carolina |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Photographer |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Johnson Williams |
| Website | www |
Cecil J. Williams (1937) is an American photographer, publisher, author and inventor best known for his photography documenting the civil rights movement in South Carolina beginning in the 1950s.
His work has been published in hundreds of books, newspapers and television documentaries and has been exhibited in galleries in the Southeast.
Williams was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He began freelancing for JET magazine at age 14. As a young professional, he also contributed to other publications, including the Baltimore Afro-American, Associated Press, the Pittsburgh Courier. He graduated from Claflin University in 1960 with a bachelor's degree in art. He studied under painter and sculptor Arthur Rose Sr. at Claflin. Although better known for photography, Williams' painting, art, graphics, and architectural renderings, represent proficiency, especially among minimalists. Although at that time, because of his race, he was barred from attending Clemson University in his state to study architecture, he drew plans for several residences; one of which was featured in a 1977 issue of EBONY; Space Age House.
Williams has photographed significant desegregation efforts in South Carolina since the 1950s. Some of his most notable pictures are of the activity during the Briggs v. Elliott case in Summerton, South Carolina. It was the first of five desegregation cases pushing to integrate public schools in the United States. The five cases combined into Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that declared that "separate but equal" public schools for whites and blacks was unconstitutional.
He also documented Harvey Gantt’s desegregation of Clemson University in 1963, the 1969 Charleston hospital workers’ strike and the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre. The massacre involved the South Carolina Highway Patrol shooting and killing three African American males and injuring 27 other South Carolina State University students.
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