Clara Belle Williams

Clara Belle Williams was the first African-American graduate of New Mexico State University.
Williams was born Clara Belle Drisdale in Plum, Texas in October 1885. She pursued her education at the Prairie View Normal and Independent College, graduating as valedictorian in 1908. She married Jasper Williams in 1917; their three sons became physicians.
While teaching at Booker T. Washington School in Las Cruces, Williams in 1928 began to enroll for summer classes at New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1937. She was the first African-American to graduate. Williams took graduate classes into the 1950s.
In 1961 New Mexico State University named a street on its campus after Williams; in 2005 the building of the English department was renamed Clara Belle Williams Hall. In 1980 Williams was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws degree by New Mexico State University, which also apologized for the treatment Williams was subjected to as a student.