Thomas Chambliss Williams: Lawbreaker Or Innocent?

Thomas Chambliss Williams was a superintendent and namesake of Alexandria City High School (formerly T.C. Williams High School) in Virginia. Williams was an ardent supporter of racial segregation and worked to prevent the integration of Alexandria's schools. He required that all Black students wanting admission to previously all-white schools go through an application process, and denied many of these applications. He also fired a cafeteria worker, Blois O. Hundley, when he found out she was part of a lawsuit to integrate the area's schools. In light of these actions, there have been calls to remove Williams' name from the high school.

Thomas Chambliss Williams' resistance to integration

Thomas Chambliss Williams was the superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools from the mid-1930s to 1963. He was an avowed segregationist who resisted the integration of the city's schools. After the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court, Williams denied applications from Black students who wanted to move from underfunded and inadequate Black schools to white schools.

In 1958, 14 Black students sued in federal court, asking to overturn Williams' rejections. Williams even fired Blois O. Hundley, a cook at Lyles Crouch School, because she joined the suit after two of her children applied to George Washington High School. He was aided in his pursuit to resist integration by the Commonwealth of Virginia, whose program of "massive resistance" to integration meant that Governor Thomas Stanley would close any school that voluntarily desegregated.

Williams was also instrumental in selecting a partly wooded 38-acre site in a part of Alexandria known as "Mudtown" for the location of a new high school. Mudtown had been occupied by African American families since the Civil War, and Williams argued it would require the fewest evictions and would be cheaper than buying already developed land. However, residents of Mudtown were concerned that "because of their race they would be unable to buy any comparable land in Alexandria."

Williams retired in 1963, and his replacement, John Albohm, worked to quickly desegregate the city's school system. However, due to resistance from the board, the schools were not integrated until 1966, under the threat of losing federal funding. Even then, de facto segregation persisted in many schools due to gerrymandered school boundaries.

In 2020, a push to rename T.C. Williams High School, which had been named after Williams, gained momentum as people argued that the school should not be named after a segregationist. The school was officially renamed Alexandria City High School in July 2021.

Williams' firing of Blois O. Hundley

Thomas Chambliss Williams, former superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools, fired elementary school cook Blois O. Hundley after learning she had joined a federal lawsuit to integrate the city's schools. Hundley was a single mother of eight and worked as a cafeteria worker at Lyles-Crouch Elementary School, a school for Black students only.

During a PTA meeting, members of the NAACP, who were planning to sue Virginia school systems to integrate schools, asked if any parents would be interested in having their children attend the whites-only George Washington High School. Hundley raised her hand, and soon, two of her children were among 14 African American children named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

When Williams found out about Hundley's involvement, he immediately fired her. He claimed that her participation in the lawsuit was a slap in the face and that her race had nothing to do with his decision. However, reporter Jim McElhatton said, "It had everything to do with that, because she was on the right side of history, and trying to make sure her children had the same access to education that the white kids had."

The school board initially supported Williams, but as the U.S. Justice Department prepared to launch a civil rights investigation, he offered to reinstate Hundley. She declined.

Hundley's actions had a significant impact on the struggle for civil rights in Alexandria. Six months after the lawsuit was filed, on February 10, 1959, Alexandria schools were integrated after a federal judge ruled that nine of the 14 African American students were denied entry to white schools based on their race.

Hundley's story is a powerful example of one person's courage and determination to stand up for what is right, even in the face of adversity. Her willingness to put her career and livelihood at risk for the sake of her children's education and racial equality is commendable.

In 2021, Blois Hundley's name was among the finalists in a public vote to replace Williams as the namesake of the high school, previously named after him. Although she did not get chosen, her story serves as a reminder of the important role she played in the civil rights movement in Alexandria.

Williams' application process for Black students

Williams College is committed to maintaining a fair and respectful environment for all members of its community. The college prohibits discrimination against any person based on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin, religion, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or veteran status.

Williams College is also one of the small handful of schools that have launched the Global Student Haven Initiative (GSHI). The GSHI seeks to remove barriers in the college application process for talented students who are displaced by war, political conflict, catastrophic natural disasters, or other crises.

Williams College is known for small class sizes, close relationships with faculty, and boundless opportunities, among other things. The admission process aims to reflect that community and expand on it, allowing each class to make its own lasting impact. The college welcomes creative thinkers, diverse opinions, and people who embrace intellectual challenges.

Williams College does not use interviews in its admission process. Interviews are not offered on or off campus. The college is also test-optional, meaning that it is entirely up to the applicant whether they submit exam results for the SAT and ACT. Williams College superscores the SAT and ACT, meaning that if multiple test scores are submitted, the highest subsection scores will be considered when reviewing the application.

The following items are required of all first-year applicants:

• Common Application, Apply Coalition with SCOIR or QuestBridge Application
• Counselor Recommendation
• Two Teacher Recommendations
• Mid-Year Report
• $65 Application Fee or Fee Waiver
• Early Decision Agreement Form (Early Decision applicants only)

Williams' blocking of students' access and opportunity

Thomas Chambliss Williams, a former superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools, actively worked to prevent the integration of schools in the city. He required that all Black students who wanted admission to previously all-white schools go through an application process. This was aided by the Commonwealth of Virginia's program of "massive resistance" to integration, which meant that the governor would close any school that voluntarily desegregated.

Williams was only too eager to deny the applications that landed on his desk. In one case, he responded to a petition from a seventh-grade Black boy, saying the student would find it "a frustrating and discouraging experience to pass from a position of prestige in one place to a position of low rating in another... It does not appear from the record that this boy has either the ambition of the spirit to enable him to compete successfully with even the lowest of the seventh grade [at the white school]."

Williams also fired Blois O. Hundley, a cook at Lyles Crouch Elementary School, because she joined a lawsuit seeking to desegregate ACPS. He was "outraged" by her participation in the lawsuit, calling it "a slap in the face".

Williams's actions had a direct impact on the opportunities available to Black students in Alexandria. Only 75 Black students (about 3%) were allowed to transfer to formerly white schools by the time Williams announced his retirement in 1962, three years after the city officially desegregated schools.

Williams' actions as representative of racist beliefs

Thomas Chambliss Williams was an ardent supporter of racial segregation and a self-proclaimed racist. As the superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools from the 1930s to 1963, he actively worked to prevent the integration of Black and white students in schools. He required that all Black students wanting admission to previously all-white schools go through an application process, and even then, only a small percentage of Black students were allowed to transfer. He also denied Black students the materials, textbooks, and resources that white students had access to.

Williams's racist beliefs and actions were representative of the Jim Crow era, and he used his position of power to block students' access and opportunities. He went as far as to fire a cafeteria worker, Blois O. Hundley, when he found out that she was part of a lawsuit to integrate the area's schools. He saw her participation in the lawsuit as a "slap in the face" and took it as a personal insult.

Williams's actions had a significant impact on the community, and even decades later, the community is still dealing with the consequences of his racist policies. The high school named after him has become a symbol of his segregationist legacy, and there have been efforts to rename it.

Williams himself recognized the harm he had caused and reflected on his long life, saying, "Times have changed a lot since I was Superintendent. T.C. students deserve so much better than a school named after me... I ruined countless lives, and students and people in the community are reminded of my unforgivable actions every time they walk in or even drive by the school."

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