Kenneth R. Williams

Kenneth R. Williams won an alderman seat in 1947 and became the first African American to defeat a white opponent in a twentieth-century election in a Southern city. He was the first African-American elected to the city council since 1900. However seven- nine African Americans had served on the Boards of the City of Winston between 1881 and 1900.    After earning his high school diploma from Columbia Heights High School, Williams traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to attend Morehouse College.  He graduated with an A.B. in 1933 and later earned a Ph.D. from Boston University. Williams was an influential minister and served as president of Winston-Salem State University.  He was born in 1912 and passed away in 1989.