Background
Williams grew up in Lincoln, Pennsylvania, her father was a professor of English and dean at Lincoln University.
Williams grew up in Lincoln, Pennsylvania, her father was a professor of English and dean at Lincoln University.
AB, Oberlin College, 1957. Certified de Francais Parle, Ecole Pract. de l'Alliance Francaise, Paris, 1963. Master of Arts in Primitive Art, New York University Institute of Fine Arts, 1975.
Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa, Amherst College, 1989.
She helped make the study and appreciation of African art a significant aesthetic and intellectual pursuit in the United States. Williams held art history degrees from Oberlin College in 1957 and New York University"s Institute of Fine Arts in 1975. Williams served as a curator in the Department of African, Oceanic and New World Cultures at the Brooklyn Museum in 1973.
In February 1983 Williams joined the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution and in 1987 oversaw the move of the museum to its current Washington District of Columbia Mall location.
During her time at this museum she was dedicated to elevating the museum"s reputation, and she helped the museum acquired more than 845 works and exhibited both traditional and modern African art, including sculpture, photography and textiles. She emphasize the importance of connoisseurship in the appreciation and display of African art
In 1989, Sylvia Williams was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Amherst College and, the following year (1990) she received an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts by Oberlin College. She served as president of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) from 1994-1995.
She died at age 60 from complications of a brain aneurysm.
1973: African Art of the Dogon, Contemporary Graphics 1981: African Furniture and Household Objects 1981: Art of the Archaic Indonesians 1989: Icons, Ideals and Power in the Art of Africa 1991: The Art of the Personal Object (aesthetic value of utilitarian objects in African cultures) 1993: Astonishment and Power: the Eyes of Understanding Kongo Minkisi.
Trustee Oberlin College, 1990-1996. Member private section arts committee United States Information Agency, 1990-1992. Member Association Art Museum Directors (president 1994-1995), American Association Museums.
Married Charlton E. Williams.