Williams was born on December 22, 1893, in Bennettsville, South Carolina, as the last of five children. His father had been born into slavery and had grown up to gain freedom and voting after the American Civil War. His mother Dorothy Ann Williams worked as a cook, nurse, and evangelist. The family suffered after Democrats regained power in the state legislature in the late 19th century and passed bills disfranchising black citizens, as well as imposing racial segregation and white supremacy under Jim Crow. Williams' innate curiosity about racial inequality and cultural struggles, particularly those of African Americans, began as early as his fifth-grade year. Encouraged by a sixth-grade teacher, he sold "The Crisis," published by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); and "The Norfolk Journal and Guide", as well as reading them and using their recommended books to direct his studies.