Paul Revere Williams was born in Los Angeles on February 18, 1894 to
Lila Wright Williams and Chester Stanley Williams who had recently moved
from Memphis with their young son, Chester, Jr. When Paul was two years
old his father died, and two years later his mother died. The children
were placed in separate foster homes. Paul was fortunate to grow up in
the home of a foster mother who devoted herself to his education and to
the development of his artistic talent.
At the turn of the
20th century, Los Angeles was a vibrant multi-ethnic environment with a
population of only 102,000 of which 3,100 were African American (U.S.
Census 1900). During Williams’ youth the California dream attracted
people from across the United States, and they mixed together with
little prejudice. Williams later reported that he was the only African
American child in his elementary school, and at Polytechnic High School
he was part of an ethnic mélange. However, in high school he experienced
the first hint of adversity when a teacher advised him against pursuing
a career in architecture, because he would have difficulty attracting
clients from the majority white community and the smaller black
community could not provide enough work.
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Source: PaulRWilliamsProject.org
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