Howard S. Williams Papers

Collection

Identifier: M3

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Papers of Howard S. Williams contain information which documents his career as a traveling evangelist for more than thirty years. The collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, sermons, promotional material, broadsides and photographs.

Dates

Creation: 1916-1960

Conditions Governing Access

Noncirculating; available for research.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).

Biographical / Historical

Howard S. Williams, the son of William S. and Mary Elizabeth Williams, was born in Columbia, Tennessee on July 16, 1878. When he was eight years old his family moved to Anniston, Alabama. At the age of eighteen he worked as a reporter for the Anniston Hot Blast, a weekly newspaper. After serving in the Army during the Spanish-American War, Williams returned to Anniston and became the city editor and a part owner of the Hot Blast. Later he helped to organize the Anniston Star.

During the next ten to twelve years, williams worked for the Birmingham Age-Herald and the Birmingham News, became city editor of the Monterey, Mexico News, organized the Torreon, Mexico Star, and worked for the Associated Press in Mexico City and Atlanta.

In 1913 he joined the staff of the Jackson Daily News in Jackson, Mississippi. During the planning stages of the Mississippi Centennial Exposition, Williams served as its publicity director. then in 1917 he moved to Hattiesburg as the secretary of the Commercial Club, the predecessor of the Chamber of Commerce. By the fall of that year he and several other men bought the Hattiesburg Daily Herald. Williams was majority stockholder of the group and served as the editor of the newspaper. The name was changed to the Hattiesburg American and it commenced publication on October 1, 1917.

In October 1922 the Evangelist Gipsy Smith, Jr. came to Hattiesburg to hold a series of revival meetings. Soon Howard Williams became a convert and began changing his way of life. He sold his interests in the Hattiesburg American, and in August 1923 he began preaching. After the purchase of a large gospel tent, his transition to the life of a traveling evangelist and preacher was complete. Over the next thirty years he held hundreds of revival meetings in twenty states and broadcast his sermons over a mobile radio station -- one of only five such radio licenses every authorized in the U.S.

In May 1925 he gained nationwide notoriety by bringing peace to Herrin, Illinois. "Bloody" Herrin was a coal mining community that had gained national attention because of numerous deaths resulting from labor unrest and mob violence. Through his rhetoric and perseverance, Williams persuaded the warring factions to put aside their differences and reunite the community.

In addition to being known as a newspaper man and a preacher, Howard Williams was a founder of the Jackson Country Club, the Hattiesburg Country Club, and the Hattiesburg Rotary Club. He also was a member of the Knights Templar of Mississippi, the Interdenominational Association of Evangelists, and was an active Mason. However, the accomplishment of which he may have been the proudest was his ordination to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church on January 17, 1956 at the age of seventy-seven.

On June 6, 1904 he married the former Emma Ray Smith of Meridian, Mississippi. They had three children, Howard S., Jr., Alfred Keaton, and Helen S., who married M. Shields Spiars. Mr. Williams died in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on September 5, 1960.

Extent

1.8 Cubic Feet : MC1/D1

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Documentation of his career as a traveling preacher.

Arrangement

The Williams Papers contain little information regarding his newspaper career or the first forty-four years of his life. Instead, the collection focuses upon his career as an evangelist during the last thirty-eight years of his life. The correspondence covers the period 1918-1960 and includes family correspondence, letters of introduction, and general correspondence. The general correspondence sheds light upon his relationships with religious and civic leaders in the areas where he held his revivals.

The mounted newspaper clippings (1916-1960) comprise more than one-third of the collection and chronicle Williams' itinerant revival campaigns. The also provide an overview of his style of preaching and insight into the subjects he considered to be most important. The few sermons included in the collection are primarily for the period 1956-1960 when Williams was associated with the Petal Presbyterian Church. The promotional materials in the collection include a variety of broadsides, handbills, and leaflets.

In addition, the collection includes a small quantity of material relating to his civic and fraternal interests. It also contains a folder of correspondence, reports, and programs regarding Mrs. Williams' involvement in the United Spanish War Veterans Auxiliary.

Provenance

Donated by the Williams family in 1963.

Photograph Log

M3-1 Howard S. Williams Portrait. circa 1897. 8” x 10". (Front view: head and shoulders.)

M3-2 Howard S. Williams Portrait . (Front view: head and shoulders .) circa 1924. 4" x 6" . ( 4 copies)

M3-3 Howard s. Williams Portrait. circa 1924. 4" x 6". (Side view: head and shoulders.)

M3-4 Howard s. Williams Portrait. (Front view: head and shoulders. ) circa 1925. 3 3/4" x 5 3/4", and 8" x 10".

M3-5 Howard s.Williams Portrait. (Front angle view: upper body, arms folded.) circa 1925. 7 1/2" x 11 1/2".

M3-6 Howard s. Williams Portrait . (Front angle view: sitting, upper body. ) circa 1925. 7 3/4" x 11 1/2". (Damaged)

M3-7 Howard S. Williams Portrait. (Side angle view: head and shoulders, toothy smile.) circa 1929. 3 1/4" x 5".

M3-8 Howard S. Williams Portrait. (Side angle view: head and shoulders.) (Print, not actual photograph) circa 1929. 4 1/4" x 5 3/4".

M3-9 Howard S. Williams Portrait . (Front angle view: head and upper body.) circa 1945. 4 1/2" x 6 3/4".

M3-10 Howard S. Williams Portrait. (Front view: head and shoulders, with Masonic hat.) circa 1958. 4" x 5". (Pen marks)

M3-11 Howard S. Williams Portrait. (Front view: head and shoulders, with Masonic hat.) circa 1958. 5" x 7".

M3-12 Howard S. Williams Preaching. (Front view: standing, arms in motion.) circa 1924. 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" and 7 1/2" x 11".

M3-13 Howard S. Williams Preaching. (Front view: standing, arms in motion and pointing.) circa 1924. 3 3/4" x 5 1/2".

M3-14 Howard s. Williams Preaching. (Standing: foot raised, book in hands.) circa 1924. 3 3/4" x 5 1/2" and 7 3/4" x 11 1/4".

M3-15 Howard S. Williams Preaching. (Standing: pointing to book in hand.) circa 1924. 7 3/4" x 11 1/4".

M3-16 Howard S. Williams Preaching. (Standing behind podium, pointing.) circa 1925. 8" x 10".

M3-17 Howard S. Williams Preaching. (Standing behind podium, book in hand, arm pointing.) circa 1933. 8" x 10". (Damaged)

M3-18 Howard S. Williams Preaching. (Standing behind podium, book in hand, arm extended.) circa 1933. 8” x 10". (Damaged)

M3-19 Howard S. Williams Preaching. (Standing behind podium.) circa 1933. 8” x10” and 9 3/4" x 13 3/4".

M3-20 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tent. (Outside view, truck in foreground.) circa 1925. 5" x 7". (2 copies)

M3-21 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tent. (Outside view, right angle of M3-20.) circa 1925. 5" x 7". (2 copies)

M3-22 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tent. (Outside view, with "Hear! Howard S. Williams Here Every Night" sign on side of tent.) circa 1925. 8” x10”. (2 copies)

M3-23 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tent. (Outside view, with side flaps raised.) circa 1925. 8" x 10".

M3-24 Howard s. Williams Gospel Tent. (Outside view, with side glaps raised.) Circa 1925. 7" x 17". (3 copies)

M3-25 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tent. (Inside view.) circa 1925. 5" x 7". (2 copies, damaged)

M3-26 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tent. (Inside view.) circa 1925. 7" x 14". (6 copies, damaged)

M3-27 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tent. (Inside view.) circa 1925. 8" x 10".

M3-28 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tent. (Inside view.) circa 1925. 811 x 10". (Damaged)

M3-29 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tent. (Inside View.) circa 1925. 8” x10”.

M3-30 Howard S. Williams Gospel Van (Truck). (Loaded with gospel tent.) circa 1925. 5" x 7".

M3-31 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tabernacle. (Outside view, temporary structure, location unknown.) circa 1927. 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".

M3-32 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tabernacle. (Outside view, temporary structure, location unknown.) circa 1927. 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".

M3-33 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tabernacle Under Construction. (Outside view, probably Pensacola, Fla., 1949.) circa 1949. 4" x 6".

M3-34 Howard S. Williams Gospel Tabernacle Under Construction. (Outside view, probably Pensacola, Fla., 1949.) circa 1949. 4" x 6".

M3-35 Group Photograph of Ladies Special Service. (By Howard S. Williams, in Louisville, MS.) February 1928. 3 1/2" x 5 3/4".

M3-36 Group Photograph of Unidentified Men in Front of Howard S. Williams Gospel Tent. circa 1925. 3 1/2" x 5 3/4". (Damaged)

M3-37 Howard S. Williams Among Group of Unidentified Men. (Outside photo.) circa 1920. 4 1/4" x 2 3/4".

M3-38 Howard S. Williams with Three Unidentified People. (Outside photo, Fairport, Alabama.) April 1923. 3 1/2" x 5 1/2".

M3-39 Howard S. Williams. (Outside photograph, standing beside car.) circa 1923. 3 1/2" x 5 1/2".

M3-40 Howard S. Williams with Son, Howard, Jr. (Outside photograph, in front of car.) Jan. 4, 1927. 3 1/2" x 5 1/2".

M3-41 Howard S. Williams with Howard, Jr., and Howard, III. (Inside photo.) circa 1958. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".

M3-42 Howard S. Williams with Four Other Shriners/Masons. (Outside photo, all wearing fraternal hats. ) circa 1958. 8" x 10". (Damaged-pen message)

M3-43 Howard S. Willaims in Group Photo with Masons. (Inside photo.) circa 1958. 8" x 10".

M3-44 Howard S. Williams in Group Photo with Other Masons. (Inside photo.) circa 1958. 8" x 10".

M3-45 Mississippi Golf Association Tournament, Biloxi, MS. Howard Williams Among Group. (Inside photo, registration desk.) circa 1922. 8" x 10".

M3-46 Mississippi Golf Association Tournament, Biloxi, MS. Howard S. Williams with Unidentified Person. (Outside photo, on golf course.) circa 1922. 5" x 7 ".

M3-47 Howard S. Williams leaving home with golf bag. circa 1922. 4 1/2" x 6 1/2".

M3-48 Golf Course Scene. (Man putting, group of men and women watching- may include Howard S. Williams.) circa 1920. 8” x 10".

M3-49 Golf Course Scene. (Man putting, several other golfers and crowd watching--may include Howard S. Williams.) circa 1920. 8” x10”.

M3-50 Mrs. Howard S. (Emma Ray) Williams with Mrs. J.O. Rea. (Outside photo.) circa 1922. 3 1/2" x 5 1/2".

M3-51 Portrait of "Paul s. Wright", Hartwell, Georgia. circa 1935? 3 1/2" x 2 1/2".

M3-52 Naomi Ruth Wilbur, Hamden, Ohio. (Child approx. 10-12 years old.) circa 1925? 1 3/4" x 2 1/2".

M3-53 Portrait of Unidentified Woman. (Approximately 60-65 years old). circa 1920? (post card stock) 3 1/4" x 5 1/4".

M3-54 Portrait of Unidentified Woman. (Approximately 20-25 years old.) circa 1900? 3 1/2" x 5 1/2". (damaged)

M3-55 Unidentified Woman Sitting on Steps of a Wood-Frame Building. circa 1900? 3 3/4" x 4 3/4". (faded)

M3-56 Unidentified Group of Men Sitting on Wooden Bench. (Possibly at a fair or gospel meeting. Maybe in Pensacola, Fla.) circa 1949? 4" x 6" .

M3-57 Unidentified Group of Men Sweeping a Tree-lined Street. circa 1920? 3 3/4" x 4 1/2".

M3-58 Unidentified Children. (Three: infant to 2 years old.) circa 1935? 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".

M3-59 Unidentified Wooden Frame Building. (Small cabin or cottage) circa 1935? 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".

M3-60 Unidentified Two-story House, (Surrounded by Trees, Child in Foreground, large and well-to-do home for the period.) circa 1920? 4" x 5 1/2".