George Washington Williams: A Biography

by John Hope Franklin, George Washington Williams

Traces the life of the nineteenth-century Black American historian, writer, orator, journalist, lawyer, politician, and traveler, and examines the impact of racism on his life

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American History

348 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

John Hope Franklin, Ph.D. (History, Harvard University, 1941; M.A., History, Harvard U., 1936; B.A., Fisk University, 1935), was the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University. He also had served as President of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association.

Reviews

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first encountered the name George Washington Williams in King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild, and it piqued my interest. I wasn't disappointed. It surprises me that one of the most important African Americans of the 19th century remains unknown, but history is fickle and sometimes recognition comes late. Williams rose from relative poverty to become a soldier in the union army, a lawyer, minister, politician and ultimately an author who wrote the first history of African-Americans and exposed King Leopold's crimes in the Congo even while the rest of the world praised him. This is a fine read for anyone interested in the period and the struggles of black people in America.

[Yesenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

as i was reading this biography, i was not loving it.
george washington williams was not easy to like--but i couldn't see why.
and then i saw the light.

the man has been forgotten for the simple reason that he owed a bunch of people money, and the fact that he was black.

but he was the first perso to use newspapers as a historical source--this was MAJOR!!! and he wrote an expose of the Belgian Congo that revealed the terrible atrocities that were taking place there!!!!
this man was brilliant, multifaceted, complex, adventurous, ambitious, brave,
but he was "the first black man to", so we all need him to have been perfect. and of course he wasn't. he had a tendency to live beyond his means and have his friends sort of foot the bill.
so he wasn't financially successful and he owed people money! wth, big deal! he did not defraud needy people of money! he sponged off people who could afford it, christ. a few decades earlier, and a white guy, and he would've been totally accepted for doing that.

perhaps the author of the biography should have spelled these things out more clearly, but he simply wanted the reader to figure it out on his or her own. maybe he shouldn't expect us to. i think if i had not thought long and hard about the book for WEEKS, as a graduate history student, i would simply not have gotten it.

somebody needs to make a Netflix series out of GWW based on this book. it would be amazing--the man was a renaissance man--minister, journalist, soldier, politician, traveller, everything!

[Shlomo]

a man few people, especially Black people know. It even turns out, that the white people who took advantage of his service and support, hardly mentioned him; George Washington Williams’s in their Autobiographies or dared to credit him with any information he was the source off. An almost illiterate Black man in the USA, enlists in the army and fights in the civil war, improved himself intellectually, and becomes a pastor, newspaper publisher, politician, a lawyer, and advocate for civil rights, not only of the Blacks in the USA, but those in Africa as well. Wrote extensively of the Negro race in two volumes which today still stands as background information for anyone who wants to understand the plight, the forceful contribution and discrimination faced by the Black race in the US. George W. Williams was not perfect, lacked financial resources, and depended on others for assistance. However, he did nothing wrong in the quest to build support and improve the conditions of his Black brethren. Colonel Williams made the acquaintance of the dirty and cruel barbarian, King Leopoldo of Belgium, but he dared to write a critique of the treatment of the natives in the Congo to which the colonial brute and his lapdogs set about to destroy the integrity of the man. He died, as a result of a long lasting injury he sustained in the American Civil war, far away from his people, in England, where he is interred.

[Matt Nyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very cautious history about a late reconstruction era african american, who pulled off one of the best whistleblower escapades of all time with his report on the Congo in 1890. Williams was really quite an "ordinary" person, but only in the sense that he was absolutely extraordinary! He rose himself up from illiteracy, wrote profusely, was elected, travelled the world. He was one of the ideals of the post-civil war period for African Americans.

And ahead of his time, by like 100 years. His writings clearly foresage modern ideas about colonialism and the terrible behavior of europeans in Africa. I found him to be exceptionally on point about nearly everything he touched. Pretty amazing.

It's interesting to read a book about a relatively minor historical character. There is no chance of Williams being a "great man", even if he was far ahead of his time. For me, the big lesson of this book is just how spectactular "regular" people can be in their accomplishments, if they put in the effort. Williams just went ahead and did things, acting as if there was nothing unusual about being so involved for an African American in 1890. He was an idealist, and he proved a great deal that by just moving forward you can overcome a great deal of racism. But he was also practical, and knew that he was a representative of his race at this time.

Franklin, the author, really belabors the man and at times it feels super slow. I also felt Franklin was unable to uncover a great deal about Williams' life, not due to his lack of effort. Why did Williams become educated? Why was he so willing to move on from his wife. One of the most shocking passages in the entire book was right at the end when Williams' ex wife wrote a pretty exceptional passage about Williams and how he had treated her so badly. Maybe Franklin was avoiding the more "human" parts of Williams because there was so much to cover in his career. But still, this is an outstanding history about a pretty incredibly accurate black historian of the late 1800s.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating of 4.90