The following post was written by Katey Watson, the France A. Córdova Archivist at Purdue University
Purdue University archivists have long known Helen Bass Williams’ significance to not only Purdue, but U.S. history. In 1968, she became Purdue’s first Black faculty member and was integral in establishing many support systems for Black students, staff, and faculty on campus. Before coming to Purdue, she was active in the Civil Rights Movement, operating in circles alongside well-known Black women activists Septima Clark, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, and more. Unfortunately, the Purdue University Archives and Special Collections only held a handful of documents about Williams and her work. Since she had no known surviving immediate family, archivists believed her papers no longer existed.
Luckily in 2019, the Women’s Archivist at Purdue located a dissertation titled, “Let it fly: The legacy of Helen Bass Williams,” referencing oral histories and papers belonging to Williams, and contacted author Dr. Mary O’Hara to see if the materials still existed. After talking with O’Hara and a visit to her home, Purdue Archives acquired two collections, the Helen Bass Williams papers (MSP 310) and Mary O’Hara papers on Helen Bass Williams (MSP 311). These collections include Williams’ personal and professional papers, photographs, pamphlets, articles, oral histories with and by Williams, O’Hara’s research papers, and artifacts providing insight into Williams’ family history, early life, career, and activism. These newly acquired papers give archivists and researchers a more comprehensive understanding and recognition of Williams’ tireless work to support Black communities both in the South and on Purdue’s campus.
Helen Bass Williams was as an educator, public health worker, and civil rights activist in the South. Her training in education, public health, and languages enabled her to work as a teacher, principal, health worker, and professor, and it was through these roles that she fought for social justice.
During her tenure at Benedict College in South Carolina, Williams joined the Highlander Folk School, a social justice education center, where she worked as a recruiter, transporting students to Highlander for trainings on voter registration and grassroots political processes. She continued this activism in Mississippi where, in addition to serving as a professor at Tougaloo College, she helped establish Head Start programs and served as health director for some of their first programs; participated in freedom rides to enable Black Mississippians to vote; and protested at lunch counter sit-ins and the “March Against Fear” to fight against segregation, racism, and encourage African Americans to vote.
Due to threats of violence and her deteriorating health, Williams left the South and continued her activism and dedication to improving the lives of the Black community at Purdue where she was integral in establishing the Africana Studies program, Black Cultural Center, The Learning Center, and was a fierce advocate for the needs of Black and minority students until her retirement in 1978.
Since the acquisition of Helen Bass Williams’ papers, the Archives has collaborated with the Black Cultural Center on a podcast about Williams, featured her materials in an exhibition on voting rights, and is collaborating with campus partners to promote Williams’ legacy in our physical spaces. Our hope is that her name and tireless advocacy for the needs and rights of the Black community is recognized both on and off campus.
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