The October 20 meeting of the Charlottesville City Council began with a somber moment recognizing the death of a key figure in local history.
“I would like to recognize the passing of an icon in the community, one of my mentors, Mr. Eugene Williams,” said Mayor Juandiego Wade. “He passed away on Saturday.”
Williams was born in Charlottesville on November 6, 1927. He attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and afterwards served in the United States Air Force. In 1949, he married Lorraine Payne of Ivy and they had two daughters.
Williams returned to the city to work for the Richmond Beneficial Insurance Company on Commerce Street. In 1955, he became president of the Charlottesville NAACP and led a campaign to sue the city to integrate public schools. One of he and Lorraine’s daughters was able to attend the former Johnson Elementary School in 1960 as a result.
Two decades later, Williams began to purchase a series of properties in the city’s inner neighborhoods with the hopes of keeping them affordable. This would become what’s still known today as the Dogwood Housing portfolio which is now owned by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the City of Charlottesville.
On November 6, 2017, City Council declared Eugene Williams Day in honor of his 90th birthday.
“Whereas Eugene Williams has served as a symbolic conscience of Charlottesville for what is right and fair for all people and for bridging the diverse parts of the Charlottesville community,” reads that proclamation. “Whereas Eugene Williams is being honored for challenging the past, testing the present and shaping the future of the great city of Charlottesville, Virginia.”
Lorraine Williams died in March 2024.
- Eugene Williams, Charlottesville civil rights leader and housing reformer, dies at 97, Hawes Spencer, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), October 2020, 2025
- Eugene Williams, lifelong Charlottesville activist, dies at 97, Meghin Moore, VPN News, October 21, 2025
- Charlottesville activist Eugene Williams dies at 97, Kyndall Hanson, WVIR 29News, October 21, 2025
- , make sure you read this story over at Vinegar Hill Magazine.
Before you go: The time to write and conduct research for this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the October 21, 2025 edition of the program. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.
Discover more from Information Charlottesville
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
