Court system leaders, local pols dedicate Harlem intersection to civil rights icon | amNewYork

"On a sunny afternoon in Harlem, judges, political figures and community organizers gathered to present the late Franklin H. Williams with a gift for his 108th birthday: the dedication of a street corner just outside the housing complex where he spent much of his life one built in response to segregation he'd help to dismantle in his storied career as a civil rights attorney and diplomat."

"Williams, a native New Yorker and 1945 graduate of Fordham University's law school, served as assistant counsel to Thurgood Marshall and later as the NAACP's West Coast regional director, contributing to major advancements in school desegregation and restrictive covenants, including fighting against the systematic exclusion of Black jurors decades before the practice was formally ended in the 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision Batson v. Kentucky."

"As chair of the New York State Judicial Commission on Minorities from 1987 to 1990, Williams helped to orchestrate a study of the treatment of minority group members in state courts, releasing a 1991 report that revealed widespread racial bias in courts and a lack of diversity on the bench. The commission is now a permanent entity named after Williams, advising state court decision makers on issues affecting both employees and litigants of color."

Franklin H. Williams received a street-naming dedication at the Riverton Housing Complex intersection of East 136th Street and Fifth Avenue on Oct. 22, 2025. The dedication honored his lifelong ties to the housing complex and his work dismantling segregation. Williams graduated from Fordham University Law School in 1945, served as assistant counsel to Thurgood Marshall, and was the NAACP's West Coast regional director, advancing desegregation and opposing restrictive covenants and juror exclusion. He helped develop the Peace Corps, served as its regional director for Africa, and was U.S. ambassador to Ghana. He chaired the New York State Judicial Commission on Minorities, producing a 1991 report documenting racial bias and bench diversity shortfalls; the commission is now a permanent entity bearing his name.

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