Education

Named to California Draft Board

The Governor of California names Paul Williams to one of 107 district draft boards. The boards administer the Selective Service Act in the State. Williams' nomination is approved by President Roosevelt.

Several nominees had to withdraw because they were called into military service or their "business affairs would not permit participation." (Los Angeles Times, October 10, 1940)

Ralph A. Vaughn, a young designer in Williams' firm, remembers in an oral history that Williams closed his office shortly after December 7, 1941 or Pearl Harbor. (Wesley Henderson interview with Vaughn, 2/16/92)

Negro Architects of Today in Action

The Negro History Bulletin, April 1940

"Reviewing the homes designed by Williams is like reading a page from Hollywood's Blue Book, namely: Will Hays, Tyrone Power, Sally Eilers, Zasu Pitts, Leon Errol, Grace Moore, Richard Arlen, Charles Correll (Andy of 'Amos 'n' Andy'), Bill Robinson, Joseph Schenck, Jay Paley (of Columbia Broadcasting Co.) and many of the executives and producers in the motion picture industry."

Homemaking Institute at Dillard University

The New York Age, March 30, 1940

"The Institute, sponsored annually by the University, will be centered this year around 'The Planning and Decoration of the Home' and will be conducted by Paul R. Williams, noted architect of Los Angeles, California. The Institute will open on Monday, April 1, with a lecture by Mr. Williams on planning a low cost home."