Oral Histories

Interview of Frances Williams

Actor, producer, and activist. Co-founder of the Art Against Apartheid Movement, the Negro Arts Theatre, and the Los Angeles Paul Robeson Community Center.
Subtitle:
To Hell with Bandannas
Series:
Z: Orphan Interviews pre 1999
Topic:
African American History
Theater
Biographical Note:
Actor, producer, and activist. Co-founder of the Art Against Apartheid Movement, the Negro Arts Theatre, and the Los Angeles Paul Robeson Community Center.
Interviewer:
Mason, Karen Anne and Smith, Richard Candida
Interviewee:
Williams, Frances
Persons Present:
Williams, Smith, and Mason.
Place Conducted:
Williams's home in Los Angeles, California.
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Interviewer Background and Preparation:
The interview was conducted by Richard Candida Smith, Associate Director/Principal Editor, UCLA Oral History Program; B.A., theater arts, UCLA; M.A., Ph.D., United States history, UCLA.The interview was conducted by Karen Anne Mason, B.A., English, Simmons College; M.A., art history, UCLA.Smith and Mason prepared for the interviews by consulting published materials on Williams, Karamu House, African American theater groups between 1920 and 1960, Williams's husband William Anthony Hill, and African Americans who lived in the Soviet Union during the 1930s.
Processing of Interview:
Betsy A. Ryan, editor, edited the interview. She checked the verbatim transcript of the interview against the original tape recordings, edited for punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling, and verified proper names. Words and phrases inserted by the editor have been bracketed.Williams passed away before she had the opportunity to review a draft transcript and thus some of the proper names, particularly those of family members and personal friends, have not been verified.Susan Douglass Yates, editor, prepared the biographical summary, interview history, and table of contents. Derek J. DeNardo, editorial assistant, compiled the index.
Length:
9.85 hrs.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.