Administrative/Biographical History
Sylvia Louise Hill was born on February 10, 1936, in Lincoln, Pennsylvania, where her father was a Professor of English and Dean at Lincoln University. She matriculated at Lincoln University in 1953, but after a year entered Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), graduating in 1957 with a major in art history. From 1957 until 1960 she studied at the School of Library Science, Columbia University, while working in the Museum of Modem Art Library.
In 1960, she interrupted her library studies to travel and study in Africa where she began her "love affair" with the country, its culture and art. For several years she studied to increase her knowledge and to hone her French language skills. For a year (1961-62) she worked as Secretary to the Director of the African-American Institute in Lagos, Nigeria. The following year (1962-63), she studied in Paris at the Ecole Practique de I'Miance, and she earned the Certificate de Francais Parle. Upon her return to the United States in the summer of 1963, Williams became an escort-interpreter for visiting French-speaking dignitaries in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Language Services Division of the Department of State in Washington, D.C. For the next five years (1963-68) she was a program consultant for the International Exchange Program of the National Assembly for Social Policy and Development in New York. From 1968-71, she worked as an account executive for Harold L. Orani, Inc., developing foundation proposals for charitable and educational projects.
In 1971, Sylvia Hill was named a Mellon Research Fellow at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York City. She entered the Master of Arts Program at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, and selected a major in Primitive Art and a minor in Modem Art. While working on her degree, she was promoted to Assistant Curator at the Brooklyn Museum (1973). The next year she won a travel grant sponsored by the National Museum of Art (administered by the Smithsonian Institution) to study public and private collections of African Art in Paris, Tervuren, and London. In 1975, she completed her Master's Degree, and in 1976 she was named an Associate Curator at the Brooklyn Museum, a position she held for only two years before being named Curator of African, Oceanic, and Primitive Collections in 1978. In that position she was responsible for the care and preservation of the collection; organizing permanent and special exhibitions; and for recommending and financing acquisitions. By reinstalling the permanent African collection and mounting special exhibitions at both the Brooklyn and other New York institutions, Sylvia Williams "broadened the definition of African Art" (Chiego). Special exhibits included African Art of the Dogon (1973), Black South Africa, Contemporary Graphics (1976), African Furniture and Household Objects (1981), and Art of the Archaic Indonesians (1981).
In 1983, Sylvia Hill Williams accepted the position of Director of the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. She was the first woman to head a Smithsonian museum. Williams supervised the relocation of the collection from Capitol Hill to the new museum on the Mall, guided the installation, and developed a multi-faceted educational program for visitors of the museum.
Sylvia Williams was a respected author and teacher. Some of her work included the catalogue for the exhibition Black South Africa (1976), Contemporary Graphics; an essay for African Art as Philosophy (1974), and several articles in journals such as Apollo, African Arts, and Arts daftique. During the academic year 1979-80, she was a lecturer in African Art at the Collectors Institute, New School for Social Research, New York City. She served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Museum Studies Program at the New York University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (summer 1980), and as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Art at American University in Washington, D.C. (Spring 1989)
Sylvia Williams was a member of many professional and civic organizations including Associates of Primitive and Pre-Columbian Art at Columbia University; the Board of Fellowships and Grants, Smithsonian Institution (1984-86); American Association of Museums (Vice President, 1986-89); Arts Council of African Studies Association; Association of Art Museum Directors (Trustee, 1989-96); International Council of Museums; Exhibition Advisory Committee of the American Federation of Arts (1988-96); Allen Memorial Art Museum Visiting Committee, Oberlin College (1989-96); and a member of the Board of Trustees, Oberlin College (1990-96). She was also a member of the Board of the Washington Urban League, Inc. (1987-96).
In 1989, Sylvia Williams was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Amherst College (Amherst, Massachusetts); and, the following year (1990) an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts by Oberlin College.
Sylvia Williams was married to Charlton Williams. The couple had no children. Sylvia Williams died in Washington, D.C. on February 28, 1996, following surgery for a brain aneurysm.
Sources Consulted
Chiego, William J. Presentation of Sylvia Hill Williams for the Degree of Doctor of Fine Arts at Oberlin College. May 1990.
"Sylvia Hill Williams." Photostat copy of unidentified magazine article.
"Sylvia Hill Williams, Oberlin College Trustee." The Oberlin College Observer. March 1, 1996.
Student file of Sylvia Hill Williams (RG 28).
Author: Elizabeth Brinkman Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
