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Q. V. Williamson (December 25, 1918 – August 4, 1985; Quentin Virgil Williamson) was an American businessman and politician. Williamson was the first black person to serve on the Atlanta Board of Aldermen since Reconstruction, elected in 1965 and taking office in 1966. He was also involved in the establishment of the Collier Heights neighborhood in Atlanta.

Early life and education

Quentin Virgil Williamson was born on December 25, 1918, in Atlanta, Georgia to Noah and Bertha Williamson. He attended Booker T. Washington High School, graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in business administration in 1940, and also attended North Carolina A&T State University.

Career

In 1961, Williamson became co-chair of the Atlanta Negro Voters League. He also taught at Atlanta University.

Also in 1961, Williamson ran unsuccessfully for the Atlanta Board of Aldermen, running against Third Ward incumbent Jimmy Vickers; "No one understands Negro problems like a Negro", he said, speaking to the Negro West Side Voters League before the September 1961 primary election. He was endorsed by both the Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution, but ultimately lost the election.

In 1964, he was the only black Georgia delegate to the Republican National Convention, where he fought a floor battle to nominate William Scranton.

Four years later, Williamson won election as a Republican to the Atlanta Board of Aldermen for the Third Ward, Position 2. He came first in a three-way primary against Jimmy Vickers and Stanley Herndon on September 8, 1965, and won in a runoff on September 16, 1965, once more against Vickers. Vickers and another alderman, Douglas Wood, had been found guilty of bribery and had refused to resign; Williamson was also endorsed by mayor Ivan Allen Jr. The campaign reportedly cost $20,000, with Williamson spending over $4,000 of his own money; the operation had 8 full-time employees and 50 part-time employees.

Williamson was sworn in on January 7, 1966, and appointed to seven committees: Police, Firemasters, Civil Defense, Park, Southeastern Fair, Insurance, and the Housing Authority Board. After Williamson's election, state senator Horace Ward said, "I hope that his election will serve as an example to other southern cities, and that we will see more Negroes serving in local government throughout the South."

As alderman, Williamson attended the Voter Education Project's first local government seminar at Clark College in 1967. In November 1969, four men broke into Williamson's home on Engle Road in Collier Heights; two of them tied up his family members and robbed the house, while two others abducted Williamson in an attempt to rob his office.

Julian Bond said of Williamson's influence on the council:

Williamson was the anchor of the City Council. Black council members used to meet at his home before council votes and decide the roles each member would take. Half the time the roles would fall through, but Q.V. lent an important coherency to the whole council.

After the city council was reorganized, Williamson represented At-large Post 17.

Williamson served until 1981, when he was defeated by newcomer Myrtle Davis, in what the Atlanta Journal-Constitution later described as "personif the split between old-guard and new-guard black City Council members". During the same election, civil rights activist John Lewis also ran for a different seat on the city council; another man, also named John Lewis, ran in the same race as Williamson and Davis, leading to some complaints that the "'John Lewis' factor" had caused Williamson to lose.

He was also the founder of the real estate business Q. V. Williamson & Company, served as chairman and president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers from 1963 to 1968, and was president of the Empire Real Estate Board, which was founded in 1939 to fight housing discrimination.

Williamson testified during Armour v. Nix in the 1970s.

Personal life

Williamson had a son, Quentin Jr., and two daughters, Quennetta and Maria. Williamson died on August 4, 1985, at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta following a respiratory illness.

References

1. ^ Ebanks, Gerardo M. (8 January 1966). "Q.V. Appointed to Police Committee After Taking Oath" (PDF). The Atlanta Inquirer. pp. 1–2.
2. "Q. V. Williamson and Morris Finley". University of Georgia Libraries. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
3. Bayor, Ronald H. (1996). Race and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century Atlanta. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807848982.
4. Range, Peter Ross (7 April 1974). "Making it in Atlanta: Capital of Black-is-bountiful". The New York Times. Vol. 123, no. 42442. p. 28.
5. Williamson, Quentin (1940). "Q.V. Williamson Draft Card [No. 826]". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
6. ^ "Funeral arrangements were being made for Q.V. Williamson". UPI. 5 August 1985.
7. "Collier Heights: A Neighborhood of Significance" (PDF). 2008. p. 25.
8. ^ Mason Jr., Herman "Skip" (2000). Politics, Civil Rights, and Law in Black Atlanta, 1870-1970. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. p. 125. ISBN 9780752409856.
9. Williams, Louis (4 May 2021). "Atlanta Negro Voters League". New Georgia Encyclopedia.
10. Moore, Charles (18 August 1961). "Candidates Assail Negro Police Curb". The Atlanta Constitution.
11. Walker, Jack (Winter 1963). "Negro Voting in Atlanta: 1953-1961". Phylon. 24 (4): 379–387. doi:10.2307/273379. JSTOR 273379.
12. "Negro Vows Fight To Back Scranton". The Atlanta Constitution. 1964-07-13. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
13. "Q.V. and Tate Face Run-off Opponents". The Atlanta Inquirer. Vol. 5, no. 36. 11 September 1965.
14. "Primary poll indicates Negro winners at Atlanta". NPI. 25 September 1965. Two others—Dr. H. E. Tate and Q. V. Williamson—face a run-off with their respective opponents for the board of education and alderman.
15. Persons, Georgia Anne, ed. (2005). Contemporary Patterns Of Politics, Praxis, And Culture: Vol. 10. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. p. 47. ISBN 9781412820349.
16. "Williamson's Campaign Cost Approx. $20,000". The Atlanta Inquirer. Vol. 5, no. 36. 11 September 1965.
17. Chisholm, Cheryl (August 1967). "Officeholders Meet at Clark". V.E.P. News.
18. Hughes v. Hopper, 629 F.2d 1036 (3 November 1980).
19. "Rich Black Atlanta Alderman Kidnapped From Home, Robbed". Jet. 37 (8): 48–49. 27 November 1969.
20. ^ Rymer, Russ (7 November 1982). "John Lewis, butting heads with the status quo". Atlanta Weekly.
21. City of Atlanta Inaugural Committee (7 January 1974). City of Atlanta Inauguration (Report).
22. Lewis, John; D'Orso, Michael (1998). Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 456. ISBN 9781476797717.
23. "2020 Mid-Winter Conference" (PDF). National Association of Real Estate Brokers. 2020. p. 16. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
24. Cyriaque, Jeanne (December 2009). "The Collier Heights Historic District: Atlanta's Premier African American Suburb" (PDF). Reflections. IX (1). Georgia Department of Natural Resources Historic Preservation Division: 1–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-20. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
25. Brown-Nagin, Tomiko (2011). Courage to Dissent: Atlanta and the Long History of the Civil Rights Movement. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195386592.

• 1918 births
• 1985 deaths
• African-American city council members in Georgia (U.S. state)
• 20th-century African-American politicians
• 20th-century African-American businesspeople
• Atlanta City Council members
• Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans
• Morehouse College alumni
• People from Atlanta