Carolyn Ann Smith-Williams was born in the Ebenezer community of Strong, Union County, Arkansas, on October 28, 1946.
Smith-Williams entered Arkansas AM&N College in Pine Bluff in 1966. She graduated with a degree in institutional dietetics and went to work for Warner Brown Hospital in El Dorado. Smith-Williams stayed there for six months before joining the United States Navy as medical staff in 1972.
After her retirement from the US Navy in 1999, Smith-Williams began collecting historic slave and sharecropper artifacts, starting with those from her own family. She founded and runs the Quilted History Museum in El Dorado, Arkansas. Smith-Williams was honored for her contributions to the community at the 2017 Jimmy Reed Jr. Memorial Scholarship Banquet, which is presented by the Pride and Progress Club of El Dorado.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Carolyn Smith-Williams and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Carolyn Smith-Williams's maternal great-grandparents, Liza and Badger Powell
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Second grade teacher's contract with Payne School in Union County, signed by school district directors, including H. W. Willliams, and the teacher, Leunice Miller; contract was $120 for a two-month term commencing on July 14, 1924
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Carolyn Smith-Williams's great-grandmother
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Lula Henderson White, second wife of Carolyn Smith-Williams's great-grandfather, Sandy White
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Carolyn Smith-WIlliams's grandmother
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Carolyn Smith, Emma Joe Smith, Martene Ellison, Herbert Van Smith, Carl Lee Smith Jr, James Wallace, Odell Daniels
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Carolyn Smith-Williams at age 18 in her senior yearbook portrait, ca. 1964
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Carolyn Smith-Williams's brother, Carl Lee Smith Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Carolyn Smith-Williams's parents, Dora Doris Louise (Williams) Smith and Carl Lee Smith Sr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Carolyn Smith-Williams in US Navy uniform with the Arkansas flag
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Carolyn Smith-Williams's husband, Rogia Eugene Williams, in US Navy uniform
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Williams Family Reunion, 1990
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Carolyn Smith-Williams's 95-year-old great uncle, Manuel Williams, and 93-year-old great aunt, Minnie Williams, 1994
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Carolyn Williams with Governor Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Carolyn Williams with her mother, Dora Doris Louise Williams Smith
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#30: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Carolyn Smith-Williams, El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#31: Still frame from Pryor Center video inteview with Carolyn Smith-Williams at her residence; El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#32: Still frame from Pryor Center video inteview with Carolyn Smith-Williams at her residence; El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#33: Still frame from Pryor Center video inteview with Carolyn Smith-Williams at her residence; El Dorado, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
