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“I am pleased to welcome Jim to Brown v. Board as the new superintendent,” said NPS Regional Director Bert Frost. “Jim brings a wealth of public and private museum management experience to his new role. His understanding of managing programs and communicating across disciplines, as well as demonstrated ability to administer park operations will serve the park well.”
“It is an incredible opportunity to lead this newly renamed and expanded park and to help tell a more complete story of this landmark case,” Williams said. “I look forward to building new relationships with our recently added sites and affiliated areas on the East Coast as we reinvigorate the interpretation of educational equity in the United States.”
On May 12, 2022, President Biden signed the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park Expansion and Redesignation Act into law, which added two school sites in South Carolina and three affiliated sites in Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia to the National Park System under the management of the redesignated park. Under Williams’ leadership, the park will begin efforts to acquire the new sites from willing sellers in South Carolina—Summerton High School and Scott’s Branch High School in Clarendon County. He will also serve as a strategic partner with the affiliated areas - Robert Russa Moton School (Farmville, VA); Howard High School (Wilmington, DE), Claymont High School (Claymont, DE), and Hockessin Colored School #107 (Hockessin, DE); and John Philip Sousa Junior High School (Washington, D.C.).
Williams first worked for the NPS as an intern and seasonal interpreter at Harry S Truman National Historic Site in Independence, Missouri. He then went on to earn a Ph.D. in early American history from Vanderbilt University. Prior to joining the NPS permanently, he was the director of the Albert Gore Research Center and a professor of history at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Later, he worked as the executive director at the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri before returning to the NPS as the program leader and museum curator at the South Florida Collections Management Center.
In addition to his work outside of the NPS, Williams has served as acting superintendent at Fort Stanwix National Monument, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, and Booker T. Washington National Monument.
Williams and his pug Ted will move to Kansas this summer. As a native of the area, he is looking forward to being closer to his family and returning to Brown v. Board, where he served as acting superintendent earlier this year.
Last updated: June 7, 2022