Sumter in Sumter County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
B.T. Williams House
This brick-veneered house was the home of Dr. Booker Taliaferro Williams, dentist and civil rights activist. Born 1900 in Elloree, S.C., he obtained his Doctor of Dental Surgery from Meharry Medical College in 1929. Within a few years he came to Sumter and opened his own dental practice, working until his death. This house was built by his brothers c. 1939. Williams lived here with his wife Catherine Frederick Williams, who was a teacher at Lincoln High School, and their daughter.
Williams became active in a number of causes in support of African Americans. He was a co-founder of the Sumter NAACP in 1939. He was later treasurer and first vice president of the NAACP State Conference and helped raise funds for its teacher pay equalization campaign and the Briggs v. Elliott school desegregation case. He was also co-plaintiff in a lawsuit that desegregated the Sumter public library in 1963. Dr. B.T. Williams died 1971 and is buried at Hillside Memorial Park.
Erected 2024 by South Carolina Department of Archives and History; sponsored by S.C. African American Heritage Commission, Center for Civil Rights History and Research and Omicron Kappa Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (Marker Number 43-59.)
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Location. 33° 55.043′ N, 80° 20.891′ W. Marker is in Sumter, South Carolina, in Sumter County. It is on West Bartlette Street west of Council Street, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 314 W Bartlette St, Sumter SC 29150, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in South Carolina’s Pee Dee. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Mount Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Lincoln High School (about 600 feet away); Trinity United Methodist Church (approx. Ό mile away); First Baptist Church (approx. Ό mile away); Holocaust (approx. 0.3 miles away); Temple Sinai (approx. 0.3 miles away); Sumter District Confederate Dead (approx. 0.3 miles away); Sumterville Academy (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sumter.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 1, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 1, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 7 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 1, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
