UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #821
WILLIAMSON, WILLIAM L.

WILLIAMSON, William L. (1920- )
Professor Emeritus, School of Library and Information Studies
At UW: 1966-1987

Interviewed: 2006	
Interviewer: Sandra Pfahler
Length: 2 hours 2 minutes

Growing up in Atlanta; UW undergraduate; Library school at Emory; Service in the US Army; Graduate study at Columbia and Chicago; Butler Librarian at Columbia; Consulting in Indonesia; UW Library School; Teaching; Research.

Interview Session (November 1, 2006): Tapes 1-2

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:47	William Williamson was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1920.  He grew up in Atlanta.  His father was an attorney.

00:02:54	He talks about growing up in Atlanta.

00:06:22	WW discusses his education in Atlanta public schools.  

00:08:16	He feels embarrassed that he never wondered about segregation while growing up in Atlanta.

00:09:50	His father died in 1929, leaving the family in financial difficulty.

00:12:12	After his father’s death, his mother returned to Lexington.  WW began college at the University of Kentucky, but after the first year his mother went bankrupt.  

00:12:56	His aunt, who lived in Madison, offered to take him in and pay for his education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.  He lived in a dormitory but still found it difficult to live with his aunt, who had a controlling personality.

00:17:01	WW majored in history.

00:17:46	During high school he worked in the public library and at UW he worked at the University Library.  The National Youth Association paid his wages.

00:19:51	WW pursued his degree in library science at Emory University.  His aunt again paid the tuition.  The US entered the Second World War during this time and, after earning his degree, WW enlisted in the Army.

00:23:16	He discusses his service in the Army.

00:37:33	In 1946 he returned to Atlanta and worked in the public library.  At the end of the year he was hired as assistant librarian at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

00:40:25	He pursued a master’s degree at Columbia University Library School.

00:41:53	After earning his degree, WW returned to Baylor for a year and a half before pursuing a doctorate at the University of Chicago.  Then he went to Columbia, where he worked as the Butler Librarian.

00:47:02	End of side.

Tape 1/Side 2

00:47:03	William Williamson continues to discuss his work as a librarian at Columbia University from 1954 to 1960 and 1962-64.

00:49:32	SUNY had a Ford Foundation-funded project to improve teacher education in Indonesia.  WW went from 1960-62 as a library consultant.

00:58:51	He returned to Indonesia in 1970 to evaluate the university libraries there.

01:03:52	WW speaks generally about his independent consulting on library buildings in Indonesia.  

01:09:44	Back in the US, he wanted more job independence and resigned from Columbia.  He took a position at Montclair State College in New York.

01:13:12	Margaret Monroe recruited WW to teach for the new doctoral program in library science at UW.

01:17:35	His only previous teaching experience was at the University of Chicago.  He contrasts teaching there with teaching at UW.

01:23:07	WW discusses the culture of the Library School during Margaret Monroe’s directorship.

01:29:51	His research focused on American library history; he wrote a biography of William Frederick Poole.  He talks about intellectual history and the use of evidence.

01:33:58	End of side.  End of tape.

Tape 2/Side 1

01:33:59	William Williamson continues to discuss the application of physical evidence to humanistic studies.

01:35:44	He talks about research and writing.

01:37:21	WW volunteers for Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness.

01:38:13	He did not participate in faculty governance.  He was involved in recruiting faculty.

01:39:46	Margaret Monroe wanted WW to serve as assistant director of SLIS but he refused.

01:41:23	He talks about his involvement in professional organizations.

01:43:31	WW discusses his attempts to balance work and family.

01:44:58	He talks about supervising graduate students.

01:52:10	WW talks about his current work at the Historical Society.

01:54:35	He talks about his marriage.

02:01:41	End of side.  End of tape.  End of interview.

END