William Emrys Williams

William Emrys Bill Williams (1896–1977) was Editor-in-Chief of Penguin Books from 1936 to 1965 and an educationalist and powerhouse of popular education in the 20th century. A close collaborator with Allen Lane, Penguin's founder, for over thirty years, Williams was the cultural force behind Penguin Books' success and was the creator of the Pelican imprint.

Williams was devoted to lifelong learning and cultural democracy and had close connections with and involvement in many different enterprises in popular education, in particular through his role as Secretary of the British Institute of Adult Education (BIAE), a role in which Williams began in 1925. Williams wanted to turn the BIAE into a more influential, dynamic voice in the debate about adult education, and to engage a wider audience in that debate. It was with this goal in mind that Williams founded the Arts for the People scheme in 1934. The scheme brought important works of art to gallery-less towns and to working-class audiences and later stimulated the formation of the Arts Council, of which Williams was Secretary-General from 1951 to 1953.

Williams was also involved with the Workers Educational Association (WEA), from which the BIAE became independent in 1925: Williams was editor - at times controversially - of the WEA journal, The Highway, between 1930 and 1939.

During the Second World War, Williams insisted - despite some controversy - on the right to education, in particular in current affairs, for servicemen and women, and so in mid-1941 Williams established the Army Bureau of Current Affairs (ABCA) and ran it for the duration of the war. For this role, he became known as ABCA Bill.

The ACBA was a programme of general education for citizenship for servicemen and women: officers attended courses on conducting discussions groups, and these were started as hourly sessions each week. Such was the response that ABCA rapidly expanded resulting in photographic display; wall newspapers articles written by the men themselves; and an "Anglo American Brains Trust". The ABCA is often credited with having an impact on the result of the 1945 General Election and played an important part in post-war period during the building of the "new peace".

...
Wikipedia