Aaron Williams Photograph Collection (PH-00234)

Born in Detroit, Michigan on October 4, 1921, Aaron Williams was the first African American in the history of Nevada to be elected to a local municipal position when he became North Las Vegas City Councilman in 1968. Williams served on the council until he was elected to the Clark County Commission in 1972.

Williams was educated in Texas and served in the South Pacific with the United States Army during World War II. Upon leaving the service, he worked in the steel industry in Detroit, where he was an assistant superintendent. He resigned from the steel industry to open his own supermarket and, after five years, relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. He was initially employed as a porter and then as an orderly at Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital (now University Medical Center). After leaving the hospital he went to work for Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Company (REECo) as a clerk, advancing to senior clerk, clerk supervisor, material control agent, buyer, and senior buyer.

Williams' community interests included the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Nevada Lung Association, Optimist Club, National Black Caucus, and the Clark County Democratic Central Committee. He founded the Aaron Williams Youth Foundation to fund minority players in local little leagues. Williams also served on the Clark County Economic Opportunity Board.

Aaron Williams died in North Las Vegas, Nevada on November 30, 2011 at the age of 90.

Source:

Lynette Curtis. "Aaron Williams, who broke racial barriers in Nevada, dies at 90," Las Vegas Review-Journal, December 19, 2011. Accessed February 20, 2020, https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/aaron-williams-who-broke-racial-barriers-in-nevada-dies-at-90/