Rob Williams was born in Monroe, NC the son of John L. & Emma Carter Williams. He graduated from the Winchester School, the city's only African-American school for many years. His home was on Boyte Street(the house no longer stands, another older home was moved onto the lot). He married the former Mabel Robinson in 1947 (Union County, NC).
After Williams returned from military service both in the U. S. Army (WWII) & the Marines (Korean War era), he began to question segregation. It is believed his first attempt to integrate the white municipal swimming pool was about 1957 (see "Monroe Enquirer", 7-25-1957, p.1 "8 Negro Youths Refused Admission to City Pool"). At one time Williams was the president of the local NAACP chapter, a position he would later lose.
For the next four years Williams led many groups of youth within Union County in challenging the "Whites Only" rules. The summer of 1961 saw a racially turbulent time in Monroe. At the end of a week in August of peaceful protesting by some Freedom Riders and local youth from the Winchester neighborhood a riot resulted. Williams would flee the county after being charged with kidnapping a white couple who had driven through the Winchester neighborhood after the riot. Williams always stuck with the story that he took them into his home to protect them from a restless and growing mob of African-American men.
There are many versions to the events and it would be wise of the researcher to review all of them. A start would be Williams autobiography, "Negroes with Guns", but should not end there. Also see Robert Cohen's "Black Crusader" and read the chapter about Monroe in '61 in James Forman's book "The Making of Black Revolutionaries" for its eyewitness account. Studying the many clipping files at the Union County Public Library (Monroe, NC) would benefit the researcher as well.
In the end, after years of living in Cuba, China and on the continent of Africa, Williams simply wanted to come home. And in a sense he did just that as his grave is only several blocks from where he once lived.
After Williams returned from military service both in the U. S. Army (WWII) & the Marines (Korean War era), he began to question segregation. It is believed his first attempt to integrate the white municipal swimming pool was about 1957 (see "Monroe Enquirer", 7-25-1957, p.1 "8 Negro Youths Refused Admission to City Pool"). At one time Williams was the president of the local NAACP chapter, a position he would later lose.
For the next four years Williams led many groups of youth within Union County in challenging the "Whites Only" rules. The summer of 1961 saw a racially turbulent time in Monroe. At the end of a week in August of peaceful protesting by some Freedom Riders and local youth from the Winchester neighborhood a riot resulted. Williams would flee the county after being charged with kidnapping a white couple who had driven through the Winchester neighborhood after the riot. Williams always stuck with the story that he took them into his home to protect them from a restless and growing mob of African-American men.
There are many versions to the events and it would be wise of the researcher to review all of them. A start would be Williams autobiography, "Negroes with Guns", but should not end there. Also see Robert Cohen's "Black Crusader" and read the chapter about Monroe in '61 in James Forman's book "The Making of Black Revolutionaries" for its eyewitness account. Studying the many clipping files at the Union County Public Library (Monroe, NC) would benefit the researcher as well.
In the end, after years of living in Cuba, China and on the continent of Africa, Williams simply wanted to come home. And in a sense he did just that as his grave is only several blocks from where he once lived.
Rob Williams was born in Monroe, NC the son of John L. & Emma Carter Williams. He graduated from the Winchester School, the city's only African-American school for many years. His home was on Boyte Street(the house no longer stands, another older home was moved onto the lot). He married the former Mabel Robinson in 1947 (Union County, NC).
After Williams returned from military service both in the U. S. Army (WWII) & the Marines (Korean War era), he began to question segregation. It is believed his first attempt to integrate the white municipal swimming pool was about 1957 (see "Monroe Enquirer", 7-25-1957, p.1 "8 Negro Youths Refused Admission to City Pool"). At one time Williams was the president of the local NAACP chapter, a position he would later lose.
For the next four years Williams led many groups of youth within Union County in challenging the "Whites Only" rules. The summer of 1961 saw a racially turbulent time in Monroe. At the end of a week in August of peaceful protesting by some Freedom Riders and local youth from the Winchester neighborhood a riot resulted. Williams would flee the county after being charged with kidnapping a white couple who had driven through the Winchester neighborhood after the riot. Williams always stuck with the story that he took them into his home to protect them from a restless and growing mob of African-American men.
There are many versions to the events and it would be wise of the researcher to review all of them. A start would be Williams autobiography, "Negroes with Guns", but should not end there. Also see Robert Cohen's "Black Crusader" and read the chapter about Monroe in '61 in James Forman's book "The Making of Black Revolutionaries" for its eyewitness account. Studying the many clipping files at the Union County Public Library (Monroe, NC) would benefit the researcher as well.
In the end, after years of living in Cuba, China and on the continent of Africa, Williams simply wanted to come home. And in a sense he did just that as his grave is only several blocks from where he once lived.
After Williams returned from military service both in the U. S. Army (WWII) & the Marines (Korean War era), he began to question segregation. It is believed his first attempt to integrate the white municipal swimming pool was about 1957 (see "Monroe Enquirer", 7-25-1957, p.1 "8 Negro Youths Refused Admission to City Pool"). At one time Williams was the president of the local NAACP chapter, a position he would later lose.
For the next four years Williams led many groups of youth within Union County in challenging the "Whites Only" rules. The summer of 1961 saw a racially turbulent time in Monroe. At the end of a week in August of peaceful protesting by some Freedom Riders and local youth from the Winchester neighborhood a riot resulted. Williams would flee the county after being charged with kidnapping a white couple who had driven through the Winchester neighborhood after the riot. Williams always stuck with the story that he took them into his home to protect them from a restless and growing mob of African-American men.
There are many versions to the events and it would be wise of the researcher to review all of them. A start would be Williams autobiography, "Negroes with Guns", but should not end there. Also see Robert Cohen's "Black Crusader" and read the chapter about Monroe in '61 in James Forman's book "The Making of Black Revolutionaries" for its eyewitness account. Studying the many clipping files at the Union County Public Library (Monroe, NC) would benefit the researcher as well.
In the end, after years of living in Cuba, China and on the continent of Africa, Williams simply wanted to come home. And in a sense he did just that as his grave is only several blocks from where he once lived.
Inscription
International Freedom Fighters. Poem by Williams written while in Bejing is also inscribed upon the monument, titled "Homeword Journey" as follows with line breaks noted with "/": The road is wide and long/ and dark with night's/ unheard song./ There is an anxious throbbing/ in my breast/ and my heart is driven by/ an ardent quest/ a magnetic force about/ my feet/ turns them to my native/ street/ And I have lost the will/ to roam/ the road that was/ never home.
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