Claude C. Williams

Claude Clossey Williams (1895–1979) was a Presbyterian minister active for more than 50 years in civil rights, race relations, and labor advocacy. He worked with the Southern Tenant Farmers Union, founded the People's Institute for Applied Religion, and served as the national vice president of the American Federation of Teachers. He was also the director of Commonwealth College in Mena, Arkansas, from 1937–1939.

As a young fundamentalist preacher in the rural South, Williams' initial motivation was the spiritual salvation of his parishioners, or in his words, to “save their never-dying, ever-precious souls from the devil’s hell eternal.” This motivation later evolved into a quest for social justice for the poor throughout society, leading to confrontations with white supremacists and lifelong charges of Communist activities. As Williams put it, “I’ve been run out of the best communities, fired from the best churches, and flogged by the best citizens of the South.” At Bethel he met Joyce King, a missionary student from Mississippi, whom he married in 1922. After graduating from Bethel in 1924, Williams gained his first pastorate at a Presbyterian church in Auburntown, Tennessee.

Career Transition

In 1927, Williams read Harry Emerson Fosdick's Modern Use of the Bible. Fosdick interpreted the Bible as a militant social text, de-emphasizing a literalist interpretation and advocating societal progress and change. Williams credited this book as a turning point in his life. Williams was also influenced by seminars held by Dr. Alva W. Taylor at the Vanderbilt School of Religion. Taylor was a noted social activist and proponent of the Social Gospel, a movement that applied Christian ethics to social problems. At Vanderbilt the concept of Jesus as the “Son of Man” made a profound impression on Williams. Referring to Dr. Taylor, Williams said, “He cleared the debris of theological crap and let Him rise among us as a challenging human leader.”

After his release from prison, Williams went to Little Rock, Arkansas where he trained sharecroppers and other workers as grassroots organizers. In 1936 Williams founded the New Era School for Social Action and Prophetic Religion. He also worked with the Southern Tenant Farmers Union to raise funds and promote schools. During this time Williams also served as vice-president of the American Federation of Teachers.

In June 1936, while traveling to Memphis to prepare the funeral for a black sharecropper who had been beaten to death, Williams was stopped by five sheriff's deputies and was himself severely beaten. Afterward he was forced to sign a statement that he hadn't been hurt, and was not allowed to continue to Memphis. A subsequent trial by the Detroit Presbytery did not address the issue of Communism but did find Williams guilty of heresy. He was defrocked as a minister and not reinstated until 1965.

Final Years

During the 1950s and 1960s, Williams was active in the civil rights movement, working to register black voters, organize protests against police brutality, and help black farmers keep their land. Living with his wife in their trailer home near the rural community of Alabaster south of Birmingham, Williams’ financial support came from funds raised by the Claude Williams Committee. Williams' wife died in 1976. He continued work until his own death in 1979.