Daniel Mortimer Williams,
lawyer, writer, and editor, was born on October
17, 1890, in Childress,
Childress County, the son of Thomas
Arnold Barlow and Rebecca 'Raworth' Williams;
he was the twin brother of David
Reichard Williams.
(In the 1900 census of Childress Co Texas, the entire family, including Thomas are shown with the surname Williams. Thomas was born April 1845 in Pennsylvania, and Rebecca, born Feb 1850 in England, and they had been married 28 years)
Dan Williams
received a B.A. and a law degree ...1917... from the University of
Texas.
As editor of the
Daily Texan he allowed women to work on the Texan staff for the first time,
praised the university for allowing women to participate in drama
for the first time, and lashed out at high prices that students were having
to pay as consumers.
He served in the
United States Army from 1917 to 1919 and during the latter year attended
the Sorbonne in Paris, France.
Returning to Texas,
he was county attorney of Childress County for a year and then became
an English instructor at the University of Texas.
In 1920 and 1921
he was editor of the Tampico Tribune in Tampico Mexico; he
then went to New York City and was a writer and editor on the New
York World and the NY Telegram; he was appointed
chief editorial writer on the New York World Telegram.
During the
years from 1922 to 1937 he crusaded for civil liberties, for laws to
promote safety at sea, for safe food and milk regulations in New York City,
and for numerous programs such as bank investment and deposit
protection, health and welfare reforms, and work programs for the
unemployed.
In the early 1940s,
during World War II, he went to Washington, D.C., and as a
correspondent for the Trans-Radio Press he covered the White House
and the State Department.
From 1946 to 1948
he wrote columns for the Washington Post, and he contributed to the
New Republic, the New Yorker, and many other magazines.
He was active in
founding the American Newspaper Guild and was a member of the American
Civil Liberties Union.
He was married to
Jean Lockwood in June 1921; the couple had two children.
Williams died on
November 1, 1969, and was buried in Rockdale, Texas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin
other children in the 1900 census are Ophelia, born May 1883, and George R., born February 1893
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Dallas Morning News - February 26,1949 - November 11, 1957
February
29 1960 - March 11, 1960 - March 11, 1962
Wayne
Gard, "The Ranch-house Goes to Town"
Better
Homes and Gardens - June 1937
Muriel
Quest McCarthy & David R. Williams: Pioneer Architect
Dallas:
Southern Methodist University Press, 1984
Vertical
Files - Barker Texas History Center - University of Texas at Austin