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Chancellor Williams "James Williams" (December 22, 1893 – December 7, 1992) was an African-American sociologist, historian and writer. He is noted for his work on African civilizations prior to encounters with Europeans; his major work is ''The Destruction of Black Civilization'' (1971/1974). Williams remains a key figure in the Afrocentric discourse. He is among historians who asserted that Ancient Egypt was predominantly a black civilization. ==Early life, migration and education== Chancellor Williams was born on December 22, 1893, in Bennettsville, South Carolina, as the last of five children. His father had been born into slavery and had grown up to gain freedom and voting after the American Civil War. His mother Dorothy Ann Williams worked as a cook, nurse, and evangelist. The family suffered after Democrats regained power in the state legislature in the late 19th century and passed bills disfranchising blacks, as well as imposing racial segregation and white supremacy under Jim Crow. Williams' innate curiosity about racial inequality and cultural struggles, particularly those of African Americans, began as early as his fifth-grade year. Encouraged by a sixth-grade teacher, he sold ''The Crisis,'' published by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); and ''The Norfolk Journal and Guide'', as well as reading them and using their recommended books to direct his studies.〔(Chancellor James Williams, ''The Destruction of Black Civilization,'' Chicago: Third World Press, 1987, p. 14 )〕 Years later, he was quoted in an interview as saying: "I was very sensitive about the position of black people in the town... I wanted to know how you explain this great difference. How is it that we were in such low circumstances as compared to the whites? And when they answered 'slavery' as the explanation, then I wanted to know where we came from." As part of the Great Migration out of the rural South, the Williams family moved to Washington, DC in 1910. His father hoped for more opportunity there, especially in education, and Williams graduated from Armstrong Technical High School.〔("Chancellor Williams, 98, Dies; Professor of African History" ), ''The Washington Post'', December 12, 1992. p. B04〕 Williams' mother died in 1925, leaving his father a widower. All their children were grown by then. After working for a while, Williams entered college at Howard University, a historically black college. He earned an undergraduate degree in Education in 1930, followed by a Master's in History in 1935. After completing a doctoral dissertation on the socioeconomic significance of the storefront church movement in the United States since 1920, he was awarded a Ph.D. in sociology by American University in 1949.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chancellor Williams」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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