Anita R Williams

Anita R Williams

Anita R Williams was born in 1891, at the home of her grandfather, Charles Hale Brown. For her birthday, her grandfather raised the roof of their two-story house on Chase (now Tyson) Street to add a third floor and make space for their expanding family. The house remains to be the only three-story home on the block.

 

Anita R Williams in an article in Evening Sun 1963

Anita accomplished very much in her life, becoming the first Catholic to be on the board of the YWCA in 1912, the first Black Catholic social worker in the country in 1922, and the first Black person on the Maryland State Council of Social Workers and board of the Council of Social Agencies. She was also the first Black person to serve on the Baltimore Emergency Relief Committee during the Great Depression, and she became the first president of the Catholic Interracial Council, serving three two-year terms. Anita was the first woman to serve on the board of Provident Hospital, Baltimore’s first Black owned medical facility, and chaired its nurses’ training program. She also served on the board of the Barrett School for Girls, where a building was later named in her honor.

For her extensive accomplishments, she was awarded a Papal Cross by Pope Pius XII in 1958 and an honorary doctor of human letters degree from Loyola College in 1977. A laudatory obituary was published in the Baltimore Sun at the time of her death in 1983.

 

Individuals

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  Charles Hale Brown

  Charles Hale Brown was Harriet Hawkins’ eldest child, fathered by John Ridgely and born into chattel slavery.

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  Nelson Hawkins

  From Chattel Slavery at Hampton to a new life in freedom as a successful cook and "Famous Caterer"

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  Harriet Hawkins

  Learn about the story of Hampton's head dressmaker and how the story goes deeper than other enslaved people.

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  John Carnan Ridgely

  Third owner of the Hampton Estate.

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  Descendants of the Enslaved

  Learn about the amazing things the descendants of the enslaved would go on to do.

 

Learn More

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  Revealing the Lives of the Enslaved

  A recent Ethnographic Study uncovered major information on the lives of those enslaved at Hampton and their descendants. Read about it here.

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  Chattel Slavery at Hampton

  From the colonial period through 1864, the Ridgelys enslaved over 500 people, from young children to the elderly.

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  Learn about more

  People of Hampton

  Hundreds of people lived, worked, and were enslaved at Hampton coinciding America's development as a nation. Explore more of their stories.