Frances Harriet Williams

Frances Harriet Williams (1898–1992) was an American activist and civil servant.

She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1919 and earned a master's degree in political science from the University of Chicago in 1931.

Early life and education Frances Harriet Williams was born in 1898 in Danville, Kentucky, to parents Fannie Bell (née Miller) and Frank L. Williams. Williams was raised in Covington, Kentucky, and then St. Louis, Missouri,

Williams attended the New York School of Social Work (now Columbia School of Social Work), where she earned a master's in social work. At the University of Chicago, she continued her studies, working with Harold Gosnell on his book Negro Politicians: Rise of Negro Politics in Chicago, and earning a master's degree in political science in 1931. Under the auspices of the YWCA, Williams published a series of pamphlets aimed at introducing white girls affiliated with the YWCA with the lives, culture and politics of African American girls and women, including "Pudge and Her Friends," "Pudge Grows Up, and "Pudge Gets a Job," along with The Business Girl Looks at the Negro World. Frances was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. In May 1943, she spoke at their 1943 Regional Conference on the role of the college trained woman to the war effort in the field of consumer problems.

From 1940 to 1946 she was the adviser on race relations for the federal Office of Price Administration. During 1947, she was assistant to the executive secretary of Harry Truman's President's Committee on Civil Rights.