Edgar Thomas Williams Jr. (1937-) is a banker whose collection of African American art included works by Richmond Barthé, Romare Bearden, Loïs Mailou Jones, and many others. The collection consists of two videos relating to the life of E. T. Williams, dating from 1993 to 2017.
Edgar Thomas Williams Jr. (1937-) is a banker whose collection of African American art included works by Richmond Barthé, Romare Bearden, Loïs Mailou Jones, and many others.
Williams was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1937. He earned a Bachelor's degree in economics from Brooklyn College in 1960, and took over his father's real estate business. Williams worked briefly as a junior high school teacher in Brooklyn, before joining the Peace Corps in 1962. He served in several roles, including assistant in the office of public affairs, operations officer for Tanzania, and program officer in the office of programming and planning. As a member of the Peace Corps, Williams attended the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, standing on the stage behind Martin Luther King Jr. during his "I Have A Dream" speech.
In 1967, Williams began working in finance, first at Maryland National Bank, and then at American Bankers Association. Beginning in 1970, he held several positions at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City. Williams worked in institutional lending before becoming assistant vice president, vice president, and then head of Chase Private Banking International.
In 1981, Williams began investing in real estate as president and COO of the Fordham Hill Owners Corporation in the Bronx, New York. It was the largest privately-financed, tenant-sponsored cooperative housing development in New York City history. He also managed an apartment complex and hotel in Massachusetts, Turtle Beach Towers on the island of Jamaica, Wings Point Yacht Club on Long Island, and co-op apartments in East Hampton, Long Island. In 1992, Williams took over the family business, Elnora, Inc., an investment company with interests in real estate, gas and oil, stock portfolios, and African American art.
Williams owned the estate of Hale Woodruff, much of which he donated to the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Brooklyn Museum. He was also on the boards of numerous cultural institutions including the Schomburg Society of Black Art and Culture, and organizations such as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
For more information, see the biographical note in the finding aid for the E.T. Williams papers, Sc MG 587.
The collection consists of two videos relating to the life of E. T. Williams, dating from 1993 to 2017. They are organized alphabetically by title. They include a 2017 video of Williams giving a tour of his art collection at his historic home in Sag Harbor, Long Island, and a video tribute compilation for financier Reginald F. Lewis.
E.T. Williams, 2011.
Collection inventoried by Nathan Evans and Anika Paris. Collection processed and described by Lyric Evans-Hunter, archivist. Finding aid published in 2025.
See the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division for the E.T. Williams papers, Sc MG 587.
See the Photographs and Prints Division for photographs.