Eldridge F. Williams was born on November 2, 1917 in Washington County, Texas, where his family lived on a plantation until he was 5. The family then migrated to Oklahoma to live on an Indian reservation. Once the Indian Reorganization Act was passed, the Williams family, not being of Indian descent, was forced to leave the reservation. They moved on to Kansas, where Williams attended public school and Junior High, and finally back to Texas, where he finished High School.

In 1941, Williams was drafted into military service to serve one year. But, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, his one-year service commitment was changed to “for duration of war”. In 1942, he was selected to attend Officer Training School in Miami Beach, Florida. Being the only black in the unit, he lived in the Collins Plaza Hotel, and was required to have a pass to be on the beach in Miami. Williams fondly recalls being classmates with actor Clark Gable, movie star of “Gone with the Wind”.

When Williams finished his training on October 28, 1942, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Since blacks and whites were segregated both by law and custom, he was assigned to Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama. From 1942 to 1946, he served as Director of Physical Fitness, Survival Training, and Parachute Landing Training for the Tuskegee airmen cadets who made up the 332^nd fighter squadron. In June of 1946, he rose to the rank of Captain, but voluntarily left the service soon after. With no desire to pursue a military career, Williams became the Head Basketball Coach at North Carolina A&T College, in Greensboro, NC.

In 1948, however, Williams was recalled to military service during the Berlin Airlift Crisis. He was reassigned to the 332^nd composite wing (Tuskegee Airmen) which had moved from Tuskegee, Alabama to Lockbourne Air Force Base in Columbus, Ohio.

On July 26, 1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which stated,” It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.” The order also created the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. In December of 1949, Williams departed for his first integrated assignment on the island of Okinawa. He was the last officer to leave Lockbourne AFB.

Williams returned to the United States and was assigned to establish an AFROTC unit at Tennessee State A&I University in Nashville, Tennessee. From 1955 to 1957, he served at Mitchell Field in Long Island, NY, where he was the Project Officer for Operation Open Skies. Williams received a letter of appreciation from the White House for his dedicated service as the project officer.

Williams served in various military capacities from 1957 to 1963, in states from Arizona to Maine and Maine to Florida. On November 30, 1963, after having served over 23 years, and rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he finally retired from the military.

In January of 1964, Williams began working with Dade County Public Schools as a teacher. He was selected for a school administrative position as Coordinator of Federal Programs, and later in 1968, he was chosen as the Director of Administrative Staffing and Policy Development. In 1971, Williams assumed the position of Director of School Desegregation. The position eventually evolved into Director, Office of Equal Educational Opportunity, which encompassed the implementation of Titles VII, IX, and other Federal Regulations on discrimination. Williams became Executive Director of Personnel in 1978, and retired from the Dade County Public School System in 1985.