CHANCELLOR WILLIAMS, 98, DIES

correction

The obituary Saturday of Chancellor J. Williams misspelled the name of one of his children and incorrectly reported her residence. She is Aressa Williams of Upper Marlboro. (Published 12/15/92)

Chancellor J. Williams, 98, a retired professor of African history at Howard University, died of respiratory failure Dec. 7 at Providence Hospital.

A resident of Washington, Dr. Williams was born in Bennettsville, S.C. He moved to Washington in 1910, and he graduated from Armstrong Technical High School. As a young man, he worked in the restaurant business.

In 1930, he graduated from Howard, and in 1935 he received a master's degree in history from Howard. He later received a doctorate in sociology from American University.

In the 1930s, Dr. Williams was an official of a school for retarded children in Cheltenham and a teacher in the D.C. school system. In the 1940s, he worked for the Census Bureau and the Office of Price Administration, a World War II agency. He also founded a bakery and had other business interests.

In 1949, he joined the history faculty of Howard, and in 1953 and 1954, he was a research fellow at Oxford University in England. From the mid-50s to 1964, he lived in Africa for extended periods, including a year as a researcher at the University of Ghana, and he visited 26 countries.

Dr. Williams retired from Howard in 1966, but for several years, he was a guest lecturer on African history at schools around the country.

He published numerous papers in professional journals. His books included "The Raven," a novel based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe, and several works of history, including "The Rebirth of African Civilization" and "The Destruction of Black Civilization."

Dr. Williams was a member of Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington.

His first wife, Dorothy Williams, died in 1925.

Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Mattie Williams of Washington; three children from his first marriage, Dorothy Rose and Margie Constantine, both of Washington, and Bernice Williams of Columbia, N.J.; eight children from his second marriage, Curtis and James Williams and Hattie Phillips, all of Washington, Mattie Collins of Teaneck, N.J., retired Army Lt. Col. John Williams of Chicago, retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Elroy Williams of Silver Spring, Robert Williams of Forestville and Russell Williams of Largo; 36 grandchildren; 38 great-grandchildren; and 10 great-great-grandchildren.