Della Mae Williams; Leader in Black Women’s Groups
Della Mae Williams, the widow of architect Paul Revere Williams and a prominent leader in black women’s organizations, has died. She was 100.
Williams died Tuesday in Los Angeles.
She co-founded the Wilfandel Club, the first black women’s social club in Los Angeles to have its own building. The facility was created in an era when Los Angeles hotels barred blacks and is still in use today, open to community groups as well as members.
Williams was born Della Mae Givens on Nov. 18, 1895, on the Black German Indian Settlement in Neosha, Mo., and came to Los Angeles as a child.
She met her husband, designer of the Beverly Hills Hotel, at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. When the architect designed the current church building, his wife chaired the building committee.
Williams also sat on the board of the Assistance League of the Stovall Home, a hospital for tuberculosis patients, and was a charter member of Los Angeles Links.
Williams is survived by two daughters, Marilyn W. Hudson and Norma W. Harvey, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
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