Cecil J. Williams

## Overview

Cecil J. Williams is a photographer who was instrumental in documenting images from the Civil Rights Movement. His work appeared in national and international publications and brought attention to Civil Rights activity through multimedia.

## Early Life

***"And I grew up in Orangeburg. This has been my home, my life's home, and I have preferred to remain here in spite of all the negative things..." —Cecil J. Williams***

Cecil J. Williams was born to two parents of mixed ancestry, his mother half white and his father half Native American, on November 26, 1937 in South Carolina. He was raised in Orangeburg, a town with an early history of Civil Rights activity due to its proximity to universities.

Growing up in Orangeburg during the early stages of a national movement greatly impacted his perception of race relations, on both an interpersonal and internal level. As a mixed child, he says he struggled to fit into the preconceived racial molds he felt he had to adhere to.

Williams grew up under state sanctioned segregation, and therefore felt the impact of southern Jim Crow laws. When he rode the bus to school the black students and white students would be separated. He noticed that sometimes the distinctions would seem arbitrary; all individuals were allowed in public gardens, specifically the Edisto Gardens, and yet blacks were not allowed in drive-in movies. He describes these regulations as "unusual barriers" because every location had a specific policy, and he was forced to abide by it.

Williams also attended an all-black high school because the districts were segregated.

During his childhood, he noticed his family was very open to discussing race and related topics, describing his household as "race conscious." This openness "at the dinner table" greatly improved his perspective and psuhed him to think critically.

As for his artistic ventures, Williams grew up in a household where arts were respected and appreciated. His brother played the saxophone, and his parents helped him purchase his first camera.

## Life and Work

***"I always wanted to be in photography, though. No matter what else I would have gone into, photography would have been my mainstay." —Cecil J. Williams***

Williams became interested in photography very early in his life. His older brother was given a camera, but because he was more interested in music, it was instead handed down to Williams, and this sparked his interest. He began photographing people on Sundays at church, and he quickly realized he could make money by taking pictures. He eventually began photographing weddings at age 11.

At around 12-13, Williams said he realized he could connect photography and his race. He was greatly inspired by *Gone With The Wind* because of its advanced cinematography (for the time) and its depiction of the deep south.

Williams was fortunate enough to have a mentor, E.C. Jones, who worked as an official photographer for South Carolina State. Because of the guidance Williams received, he was able to earn compensation for freelance work.

Jones asked Williams to take pictures of churches in a nearby county, where he happened to meet families connected to the court case *Briggs v. Elliott*. This case later combined with other public school desegregation cases to form *Brown v. Board of Education*, which is perhaps the most notable Civil Rights case. Briggs v. Elliott also further pushed Thurgood Marshall into the spotlight. Williams used photography to capture desegregation efforts in nearby towns, especially during the time Briggs v. Elliott was gaining traction. This allowed Williams to really see just how significant photography can be, and he began to sell photos to local newspaper and serve as a correspondent for others.

Williams also used his skill to photograph several significant figures of the time, most notably John F. Kennedy and Thurgood Marshall. During William's last year at Claflin University he was visiting relatives in New York City when he read an article the senator John F. Kennedy would be attending a press conference in a hotel, and he decided to attend, especially because there were rumors circulating that JFK was going to announce his presidential bid that evening. When Williams attempted to enter, he realized he had forgotten his press pass, and because of his race he was subject to immediate attention by security. They attempted to throw him out, but JFK himself prevented it and asked him to sit close to the front. Williams notes that at the time, still photographers were often sent to the back rows while media and television photographers were kept in the front, so as both a still photographer and an African American, he was breaking boundaries.

JFK kept Williams close, and during his campaign and presidency Williams served as one of his personal photographers.

Williams also recalls numerous encounters with Thurgood Marshall, both through local universities (he attended an HBCU where Marshall would frequently speak, especially around the time of the Briggs case). He also developed connections with the NAACP while allowed him to further explore Civil Rights activity and document it.

Because of the guidance Williams received early on, he was able to utilize his talent to memorialize the Civil Rights movement. He recognized that many issues at the forefront of the movement did not gain enough traction because they were not mainstream enough, so creating striking images that could speak for the movement while still being accepted by mainstream, predominately white publications.

Williams discusses attending a KKK rally to take photographs in his oral history interview conducted by Joseph Mosnier and recorded by the Library of Congress. He recalls arriving at the rally at then end when only a few individuals were left. A highway patrolman and the Grand Dragon were cleaning up the burnt cross (which is part of KKK rally ritual) when Williams approached them. He recalls the general oddness of the situation, saying, "...they were confused by the fact that I'm here, this young African American man has come to take a picture of this." As he turned to leave the site, they stopped him and asked if he wanted a picture. He agreed, and eventually they re-erected the cross and Williams took a picture of the two in front of it. Unfortunately, Williams no longer has the photo, yet the significance of the experience still remains: a black man was able to photograph a cop and a KKK member.

One of William's more notable photographs was of two African American students, both friends of Williams, trying to enter a church but being barred by the Mayor of Orangeburg, who told them it segregated. This photograph reached an international audience after Williams sold it to the Associated Press for 35 dollars.

The pictures Williams took of the Orangeburg Massacre are regarded as some of his most significant. The massacre is one of the largest Civil Rights battles, and yet it is often missing from history textbooks. Williams was not present during the actual shooting, but did arrive on the scene later, where he took pictures of students holding shotgun shells. His pictures ran in national papers and were used as evidence by the FBI. Cecil was even approached by the FBI, though he declined working for them, saying, "...I refused that offer because I didn't know whether it was a genuine effort or whether they wanted really just to make an informant out of me, which I refused." It was not uncommon at the time for the FBI to make an effort to recruit African Americans to supply information regarding the Civil Rights movement, which was regarded as a threat to order by many Americans.

## Publications and Achievements

***"And America, I think, is a better country for everyone, because of the Civil Rights Movement." —Cecil J. Williams***

In addition to the photographs published in news media, Cecil J. Williams has written numerous books and collections of photos in his later life.

* *Freedom and Justice: Four Decades of the Civil Rights Struggle as Seen by a Black Photographer of the Deep South* (1995)
* *Out-of-the-Box in Dixie: Cecil Williams’ Photography of the South Carolina Events that Changed America* (2012)
* *Orangeburg 1968…: A Place and Time Remembered*, co-written with Sonny Dubose (2012)
* *Unforgettable All the Memories We Left Behind: The Art, Design, and Photography of Cecil Williams, 1950–2013* (2016)
* *Painter Showcase: A Gallery of Modern Portraiture, Beyond the Camera's Capability* (2013)
* *Images of America - Clarendon County,* co-written with two other authors, published by Arcadia Publishing (2002)

Williams also worked for numerous news publications, such as JET Magazine, The Associated Press, and Pittsburgh Courier.

## Sources

City of Orangeburg Website

Edisto Gardens Page on Orangeburg Website

*Briggs V. Elliott* Wikipedia Page

Oyez Thurgood Marshall Biography

History of the NAACP

Library of Congress Cecil J. Williams Oral History Interview