ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine is honoring an important alumna with a campus building dedication on Friday
What once was known as the C.C. Little Hall is now the Williams Hall.
Beryl Warner Williams, a Bangor native, was the first Black woman to obtain a degree in mathematics at the University of Maine in 1935. At that time, women, and more specifically Black women, weren't encouraged to seek college degrees.
After obtaining her master’s degree in 1940, Warner Williams moved out of state, as she was not welcomed to teach in Maine.
Eventually, Warner Williams' academic career landed her the position as an academic dean at Morgan State University—an achievement as the first Black woman to do so.
There, she created the Center for Continuing Education. While at Morgan State, she led the desegregation of Baltimore Public Schools serving on the Baltimore Public Schools Board of Commissioners between 1974 and 1984.
Rebekah Williams, granddaughter of Beryl Warner Williams, said she is very proud of her accomplishments. She was moved to tears as she viewed the dedicated large-scale murals on the walls of Williams Hall.
"From what I understand, my grandmother wasn’t able to finish her academic career here. And to see this amazing, beautiful personal tribute to her in the science building here in the place she grew up in is incredible," she said.
University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy said the university could not have chosen a better nominee.
"When Beryl Warner Williams' name came to the foreground and we were able to look at her extraordinary time at the University of Maine and beyond, the absolute commitment that she has had across her life to social justice, to equity, to making a difference for all people — I couldn’t have found a better suggestion for this nomination, " Ferrini-Mundy said.
The large-scale murals are on exhibit permanently in the Williams Hall atrium at the university.