• Welcome
  • Introduction Video
  • About this Project
  • Meet the Leaders (Index)
    • Henry Aaron
    • Ralph David Abernathy
    • Julian Bond
    • Joseph E. Boone
    • John Wesley Dobbs
    • W.E.B. Du Bois
    • Alonzo Herndon
    • Jesse Hill, Jr.
    • Donald Lee Hollowell
    • Hamilton E. Holmes
    • Maynard Jackson
    • Martin Luther King, Jr.
    • John Lewis
    • Joseph Lowery
    • Benjamin Mays
    • James & Robert Paschal
    • Roslyn Pope
    • Booker T. Washington
    • Domonique Wilkins
    • Hosea Williams
    • Andrew Young
  • Interactive Map
  • Explorer's Toolbox
  • Historic Districts
    • MLK Historical Park
    • MLK Park Photo Gallery
    • Nat'l Center for Civil & Human Rights
    • Rodney Cook, Sr. Park
    • Sweet Auburn District
  • Newsletter
Black Leaders of Atlanta

Hosea Williams

Hosea Lorenzo Williams (January 5, 1926 – November 16, 2000) was an American civil rights leader, activist, ordained minister, businessman, philanthropist, scientist, and politician. He may be best known as a trusted member of fellow famed civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle.

Under the banner of their flagship organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King depended on Williams to organize and stir masses of people into nonviolent direct action in myriad protest campaigns they waged against racial, political, economic, and social injustice. King alternately referred to Williams, his chief field lieutenant, as his "bull in a china closet" and his "Castro."

​Vowing to continue King's work for the poor, Williams is well known in his own right as the founding president of one of the largest social services organizations in North America, Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless. His famous motto was "Unbought and Unbossed."

Where to Connect

  • ​Hosea Williams Boulevard — this 3.3-mile roadway (formerly Boulevard Drive) runs from Moreland Ave east to Candler Road. It goes through the Atlanta neighborhoods of Edgewood, Kirkwood and East Lake.
  • Hosea Williams Mural — located in Old Fourth Ward on the side of a parking deck at Studioplex (visible from Edgewood Avenue traveling east)
  • Hosea Helps — non-profit that helps to feed the hungry
  • Hosea L. Williams Papers — housed at Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History in Atlanta

Learn More

  • Hosea Williams (New Georgia Encyclopedia) 
  • ​Rev. Hosea L. Williams: A leader in the national movement for the rights of poor people, and the founder of Hosea Feed The Hungry since 1971 (Hosea Helps)
  • Hosea Williams: A Lifetime of Defiance and Protest (USC Press)
NEXT STOP
Picture
INDEX + INTERACTIVE MAP + MATCHING QUIZ + EXPLORER'S LOG
CONTACT + DONATE + EXPLORE + LEARN + FOLLOW + SUBSCRIBE
website by ATLsherpa
  • Welcome
  • Introduction Video
  • About this Project
  • Meet the Leaders (Index)
    • Henry Aaron
    • Ralph David Abernathy
    • Julian Bond
    • Joseph E. Boone
    • John Wesley Dobbs
    • W.E.B. Du Bois
    • Alonzo Herndon
    • Jesse Hill, Jr.
    • Donald Lee Hollowell
    • Hamilton E. Holmes
    • Maynard Jackson
    • Martin Luther King, Jr.
    • John Lewis
    • Joseph Lowery
    • Benjamin Mays
    • James & Robert Paschal
    • Roslyn Pope
    • Booker T. Washington
    • Domonique Wilkins
    • Hosea Williams
    • Andrew Young
  • Interactive Map
  • Explorer's Toolbox
  • Historic Districts
    • MLK Historical Park
    • MLK Park Photo Gallery
    • Nat'l Center for Civil & Human Rights
    • Rodney Cook, Sr. Park
    • Sweet Auburn District
  • Newsletter