Downtown in Nashville in Davidson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Avon N. Williams, Jr.
1921-1994
Photographed By Darren Jefferson Clay, January 2, 2023
1. Avon N. Williams, Jr. Marker
Inscription.
Avon N. Williams, Jr.. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Avon N. Williams, Jr., was an attorney, statewide civil rights leader, politician, educator, and a founder of the Davidson County Independent Political Council and the Tennessee Voters Council. In 1950, as a cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, he and attorneys Z. Alexander Looby and Carl Cowan filed and successfully litigated McSwain v. Board of Anderson County, Tennessee, the first public school desegregation case in the state. ,
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(Continued from other side). Assisting in every school desegregation case statewide except Shelby County, he was counsel for the plaintiff intervenors in the Tennessee State University / University of Tennessee at Nashville merger suit. In 1979, under federal court order, UTN merged with TSU. Williams was elected to the state legislature in 1968, becoming the first African-American state senator from Nashville to serve as a member of the Tennessee General Assembly. He represented the 19th district for more than 20 years, serving as a member of the 86th through the 96th General Assembly of Tennessee.
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Avon N. Williams, Jr., was an attorney, statewide civil rights leader, politician, educator, and a founder of the Davidson County Independent Political Council and the Tennessee Voters Council. In 1950, as a cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, he and attorneys Z. Alexander Looby and Carl Cowan filed and successfully litigated McSwain v. Board of Anderson County, Tennessee, the first public school desegregation case in the state.
(Continued on other side)
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Assisting in every school desegregation case statewide except Shelby County, he was counsel for the plaintiff intervenors in the Tennessee State University / University of Tennessee at Nashville merger suit. In 1979, under federal court order, UTN merged with TSU. Williams was elected to the state legislature in 1968, becoming the first African-American state senator from Nashville to serve as a member of the Tennessee General Assembly. He represented the 19th district for more than 20 years, serving as a member of the 86th through the 96th General Assembly of Tennessee.
Erected by Tennessee Historical Commission. (Marker Number 3A 180.)
Location. 36° 9.816′ N, 86° 47.221′ W. Marker is in Nashville, Tennessee, in Davidson County. It is in Downtown. Marker is on Charlotte Avenue just west of YMCA Way, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 901 Charlotte Ave, Nashville TN 37203, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, March 28, 2020
2. Avon N. Williams, Jr. Marker
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 20, 2020
3. Avon N. Williams, Jr. Marker reverse
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, March 28, 2020
4. Avon N. Williams, Jr. Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 2, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 370 times since then and 55 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on January 22, 2023, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. 2. submitted on April 2, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 3. submitted on June 23, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 4. submitted on April 2, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
