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Table of Contents
Hosea Williams was an American civil rights leader, politician and philanthropist who played a major role in the struggle against segregation.
Early Life:
- Hosea Williams was born January 5, 1926, in Attapulgus, Georgia.
- His African-American parents were both blind and were in a trade institute for the blind.
- Hosea’s mother died giving birth to his younger sister, so the two children went to live with their grandparents.
- When Williams was 14, he was forced to flee his grandparents’ farm to avoid being lynched after becoming friendly with a local white girl.
- At age 23, Williams completed his high school education and enrolled at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, and earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry.
- After earning his master’s degree from Atlanta University, he worked as research chemist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was also ordained as a minister.
- During this time, he married Juanita Terry. They had five children together and adopted another four.
- During World War II, Williams joined the U.S. Army and served in an all-black unit under General George S. Patton.
- He joined the Third Army Unit to Europe and was the only survivor of a 13-man platoon hit by a shell in France. While being taken to hospital, the ambulance was also hit and once again he was the only survivor.
Civil Rights Movement:
- Hosea Williams first became active in the Civil Rights Movement in 1952.
- He joined the Savannah chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
- Hosea was motivated to join the NAACP after being badly beaten by a group of whites after trying to get a drink of water from a whites-only canteen in a segregated bus station in Americus, Georgia.
- In 1964, he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
- As one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most trusted officers of the SCLC, Williams helped conduct black voter registration drives in the Freedom Summer of 1964.
- On March 7, 1965, he also played a leadership role in the March to Montgomery.
- It was cut short by police brutality and was known as Bloody Sunday.
- The highly publicized event ultimately prompted President Lyndon Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act.
- Also in 1965, King appointed Williams president of the SCLC’s Summer Community Organization and Political Education.
- During the late 1960s,Williams collaborated with the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations on the Chicago Campaign.
- In 1968, he returned to the south as field director for the SCLC’s Poor People’s Campaign.
- In April of that year, he witnessed King’s devastating assassination.
- In the 1970s, Williams was elected executive director of the SCLC.
- Hosea Williams founded the “Hosea Feed the Hungry” and “Homeless Food International” aid organizations in 1971.
- HFTH has since donated billions of dollars in food, medical and educational supplies to recipients in Georgia, Uganda, the Philippines and the Ivory Coast.
- In 1974, Williams won the election to the Georgia State Assembly.
- He remained a representative until he resigned and his wife took over his seat.
- From 1985 to 1990, he was a member of the Atlanta City Council.
- From 1990 to 1994, he served as DeKalb County commissioner.
- In 1987, Hosea Williams lead Georgia’s most sizable civil rights march, in which some 20,000 protesters boldly withstood racial slurs and physical violence from white supremacist counter-demonstrators in the all-white Forsyth County.
- Williams also led a 1996 march to the Georgia state capitol to protest the Confederate symbol depicted on Georgia’s state flag.
- Hosea Williams died of kidney cancer in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 16, 2000, at the age of 74.
Hosea Williams Worksheets
This bundle contains 11 ready-to-use Hosea Williams Worksheets that are perfect for students who want to learn more about Hosea Williams who was an American civil rights leader, politician and philanthropist who played a major role in the struggle against segregation.Southeast Asia.
Download includes the following worksheets:
- Hosea Lorenzo Williams Facts
- Hosea’s Legacy
- Matching Type
- Career
- Activism
- Synonyms
- Civil Rights March
- Hosea’s Help
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Lesson Learned
- Song Choice
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Link will appear as Hosea Williams Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, December 12, 2017
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