Frances F. Williams papers

Collection

Identifier: Ms-0284

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Frances Williams Papers span the years 1960-1990, with the bulk of the collection dating to 1962-1986. The materials have been divided into thirteen series: personal, correspondence, conferences/conventions, employment issues, organizations, commissions, issues, elections, publications, miscellany, media, photographs and scrapbook. Note, the collection is arranged and described primarily at the box level. The personal series includes biographical information which summarizes Williams' personal and career achievements. The series is composed of three subseries, which includes awards, biographical material and writings. The materials cover, biographical information written by herself such as a curriculum vita, speeches and other writings. The correspondence series is arranged by year which include letters from 1960-2016. The series includes letters to and from Williams that pertain to both career and personal matters. The conferences/conventions include events that Frances attended. Materials include event agendas and related information regarding the conferences. The majority of the series is composed of materials of the 1988 Democratic National Convention held in Atlanta, Georgia when Frances was selected as the New Mexico delegate. The series is arranged in chronological order by year the event was held. The employment issues series is composed of five subseries, which are Equal Employment Opportunity, Federal Government Women Employees, Women’s Employment, Sexual Harassment and other issues. The majority of the issues is composed of Equal Employment Opportunity and training materials Frances utilized during training courses that she instructed. The organizations series includes seven subseries. The subseries that are incorporated are organizations that Frances was affiliated and those include The Anti-Defamation League, League of Women Voters, National Organization for Women, New Mexico Jewish historical Society, Temple Beth-El, Toastmasters and White Sands Missile Range Foundation. The commissions series is composed of three subseries which include New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women, National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year and other commissions as they appear within the papers. Materials in the series include material pertaining to her 1974 appointment by the Governor of New Mexico to the New Mexico Commission for the Status of Women. Materials in this series include meeting minutes, reports and publications. The issues series include various issues that Frances took interest which span from 1970-2013. The series is arranged into six subseries and they include abortion and birth control, family, equal rights amendment, civil rights, domestic and global events and regional issues. The elections series is arranged into two sub-series: political related material (national and regional) and Frances for mayor related materials and other political matter. The series includes political material from 1980-2016. The publications series contains published materials such as journals, magazines and other published works that Frances collected that pertain to areas of research. The materials are arranged in alphabetically by publication title and span from 1980s-2000s. The miscellany series include a variety of items such as menus for conferences, calendars and other materials Frances collected during trips for conferences and personal matters and span from 1970-1990. The media series include various formats of media which consists of 3 1/2 inch floppy disks and audio cassettes and CD-ROMs. The series is arranged into three subseries which are audio cassettes, CD-ROMs and floppy disks and contents include files from 1977-2003. The photographs series contain colored print images depicting various functions that Frances was involved which date from 1960s-2000s. The photographs are arranged in alphabetical order by subject matter. Note, Frances' 65th birthday photos have been digitized and the content of the media has been transferred to the NMSU Archives and Special Collections digital server. The final series a scrapbook which is undated. This series contains one scrapbook titled “Career Women, Inc.” Scrapbook contains images and newspaper clippings of Frances Williams and other women within the organization. Note, the content of the media has been transferred to the NMSU Archives and Special Collections digital server.

Dates

1930 - 2015

Conditions Governing Access

Open. All materials in this collection are available for research under supervised conditions in the Research Room.

Biographical / Historical

Frances Williams was born in 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother immigrated from the Warsaw Ghetto, in Warsaw Poland after World War I, and her father’s family was from Kiev, Ukraine. Frances grew up in the Israel Orphan Asylum in New York City and graduated from Girls High School in Brooklyn, New York. After graduation, she married Ausvel L. Williams who was in the United States Navy. After marriage, they moved to Gulfport, Mississippi where they had two children, Melvin Lee Williams and Cheryl Lynn Williams Kirby. Frances was employed as a secretary for various attorneys before she began her Civil Service career in 1951 at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. While in Mississippi during 1945-1952, she was active and involved in the Civil Rights movement and human rights. In 1952, Ausvel transferred to White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico where Frances followed and she began her employment. Frances employment at the White Sands Missile Range spanned from 1952-1987 where she held various positions which included: Supply Systems Analyst, Logistician, Director of Administrative Services for the Instrumentation Directorate, Federal Women’s Program Manager and Director of Equal Employment Opportunity Directorate. While holding her job title as the Instrumentation Directorate, Frances volunteered to go to Long Binh Vietnam as a Logistician where she was assigned from 1967-1968. In 1969 she assumed the position as the first Federal Women's Program coordinator at White Sands Missile Range. In 1973, she became the first full time Federal Women’s Program Manager at WSMR which she started innovative programs to improve the employment status of women not only at WSMR, but in neighboring communities. Frances work within civil rights were recognized by the Governor of New Mexico and in 1975 she was awarded the Public Service Award for her work in the field of Equal Opportunity. Soon after receiving the prestigious award, she was appointed as the Program Chairperson for New Mexico for the United States celebration for International Women’s Year, and created more than seventy five programs to challenge both men and women to implement programs that would provide opportunities to educate to improve both education and employment. In 1975, she was selected to serve as a delegate to the United Nations International Women’s Year in Mexico City from the Department of Defense and as well she was chosen to represent New Mexico at the United States Conference for International Women’s Year in Houston, Texas. In 1978 became the Equal Employment Opportunity officer a position she held until her retirement. After her retirement, Williams established a consulting firm dedicated to support Equal Employment Opportunity for citizens. She educates individuals and teaches Civil Rights classes for various public and private sector employers, investigates complaints of discrimination, serves as a technical expert in the area of Civil Rights.