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Mountain States Spotlight with New Mexico NAACP “Living Legend” Award Honoree Frances Williams

  • July 16, 2018

The Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Region offers its hearty congratulations to Frances Williams of Las Cruces, New Mexico – an active supporter of the work of ADL – upon her receiving New Mexico NAACP’s “Living Legend” Award.

Raised in Brooklyn, NY, Frances F. Williams spent five years in Mississippi before relocating with her husband to New Mexico in 1952. From 1952 – 1987, she worked at the White Sands Missile Range, a United States Army military testing area of almost 3,200 square miles southern New Mexico.  Over Williams’ 35-year-career, she held a number of positions, including several non-traditional positions for women, including as the accountable property officer for all automotive and aircraft spare parts in transportation.

In 1969 Williams developed the Range’s first affirmative action plan for women and in 1973 she was appointed as the first full-time federal women’s program manager. She served in that position until 1976 at which time she was selected as the equal employment opportunity manager for White Sands. Under Williams’ direction, ten women were accepted into the Range’s upward mobility program as electronic technicians, the first women to enter the field at White Sands.

Williams served two terms on the New Mexico Commission for the Status of Women and one term on the state task force on affirmative action. For twelve years she also served as the chairperson for the Las Cruces Review Board for Grievances and Discrimination Complaints. A trained paralegal, Williams has taught civil rights employment law and has acted as a counselor and mediator for victims of sexual harassment and assault.

Williams also served in Vietnam from 1967-1968 as a supplies and equipment logistician during the Vietnam War, and volunteered at the 24th Evacuation Hospital during the Tet Offensive, helping wounded soldiers that had been evacuated from the battlefield. Williams was honored for her service in Vietnam at the opening of the “Vietnam Through A Different Lens” exhibit at White Sands in 2015, at which she spoke about her experiences.

Williams has been honored with many awards, including the NAACP Freedom Fighter Award, the US Army’s Equal Opportunity Award, and she received multiple commendations during her career at White Sands. She was elected to the range’s “Hall of Fame” in 1995. Most recently, Williams received the “Living Legend” medal during the annual NAACP Juneteenth dinner on June 16 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Williams is also proud of the fact that she is not only a founding member of Temple Beth El in Las Cruces, but that she celebrated her bat mitzvah there – at age 80. “The governor came to the party!” she shares. Williams is the mother of two, grandmother of seven, and great-grandmother of fourteen. Her husband Ausvel Williams passed away in 2006.

When asked how Williams got involved in the NAACP, she replied:

I was living in Mississippi with my husband in the 1950s, and my dentist, Dr. Tate, was an African-American man. He was harassed and threatened frequently, as was I for being his patient. I joined the NAACP in Mississippi and continued my involvement in New Mexico. I’ve been fighting injustice since I was a young woman.

Reflecting on today’s political and social climate, Williams says:

Our country today is divided because people are not willing to compromise and to reach across the aisle. That divisiveness has seeped into our daily lives. If we don’t get our arms around each other, this division will become deeper and dangerous for our entire nation.

In offering his congratulations to Williams on the receipt of her award from the NAACP, ADL Mountain States Regional Director Scott L. Levin said:

Frances Williams is most deserving of the NAACP’s “Living Legend” award. Over the course of her life, she has fought tirelessly to uphold the ideals and values that ADL champions: to secure justice and fair treatment to all. We are fortunate to consider her to be among ADL’s most ardent supporters in New Mexico.