LEROY MAURICE WILLIAMS

1901-1983

Leroy Maurice Williams, as a young boy in Victoria, skipped school from time to time. But he didn't go fishing. Instead, he set newspaper headline tape at the Victoria Advocate. Few knew he would eventually go on to lead the Texas State Federation of Labor. 

By 1922, Brother Williams had earned his journeyman card with the International Typographical Union (ITU). After traveling the country as a “tramp printer,” he settled down in Houston, where in 1938 he was elected President of the Houston Labor and Trades Council. He also served as Secretary-Treasurer of Houston ITU Local 87 from 1940 until his retirement in 1971. 

Brother WIlliams was elected President of the Texas State Federation of Labor in 1954. He was instrumental in the merging of Texas State AFL-CIO in 1957, when he was President of the founding convention. 

“I realized that I could not hold a strong position without a strong opposition,” he once said. “I have always believed that I must do my duty as I see it.”

To the Memory of Brother Leroy Williams, a founding leader of the Texas AFL-CIO, we give our appreciation and gratitude for a tenure of great leadership.