Photograph of Felton W. Williams Jr. playing an electric console steel guitar
date: label: Date
content: 1960s - 1970s
name: label: Created by
content: Unidentified
label: Subject of
content: Felton W. Williams Jr., American, 1934 - 2012
notes: label: Caption
content: Felton W. Williams Jr. was born on January 3, 1934, in Tupelo, Mississippi. In 1943 his family moved to Detroit, where they attended the same House of God Church as fellow steel guitar pioneer Maurice “Ted” Beard. Williams began playing lap steel in 1947, and by 1952 had played for many large church assemblies n Detroit, Toledo, Ohio, Kansas City, Missouri, and Nashville, Tennessee. In 1956 Williams began working as electrician for Ford Motor Company, a job he would have until retirement in 1994. He used his skills as an electrician to build amplifiers and steel guitars. Williams also taught steel guitar to youth from the church, and had a recording studio in his basement, where he recorded many gospel records for local singers. He was respected in the Sacred Steel community as an innovator, recording artist, studio owner, producer, instructor and inventor.
label: Description
content: A black-and-white photograph of Felton W. Williams playing his electric console steel guitar in a living room. There are two microphone stands on either side of him and a bookshelf full of books behind him.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Gospel (Music)
label: Topic
content: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
label: Topic
content: Musicians
label: Topic
content: Pentecostal
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Technology
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Photographs and Still Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture; Gift of Felton W. Williams, Jr.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2011.64.5
objectType: label: Type
content: photographs
label: Type
content: portraits
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (Sheet): 3 3/8 × 3 7/8 in. (8.5 × 9.8 cm)