The History Department voted unanimously on Monday, March 9, 1999, to name the Department's refurbished lounge The Professor Jim Williams History Study.

Professor Jim was an African-American janitor who served the College for over fifty years. He was beloved by generations of Trinity students and faculty members and was also the subject of a book by C. H. Proctor, '73 entitled The Life of James Williams, Better Known as Professor Jim, For Half A Century Janitor of Trinity College.

Professor Jim's career was discussed in a lengthy Harper's Illustrated portrait of the College that appeared in the early 1880's. The article revealed that James Williams served in the War of 1812 and was source of much kindness and wisdom to all who knew him during decades of service to Trinity that began when the College was founded in 1823.

On Monday, April 26, 1999, the History Department  inaugurated the newly refurbished Professor Jim Williams History Study (Seabury 13). Thanks to the assistance of   Mr. Alan R. Sauer, Trinity's Business Manager and Budget Director, a contemporary portrait of Professor Jim (shown here) has been relocated to our new study.

The naming of this previously nameless room for Professor Jim marked the first time in the College's history that a Trinity space has been named to commemorate the service of a person of color. We in the Department collectively feel that in this 175th year of the College's life, such symbolic recognition of the important role of Professor Jim and, by implication, many others who have devoted their lives to the College in a wide variety of important but often anonymous and unrecognized ways, is long overdue.

The Prof. Jim Williams History Study offers History students and faculty a unique space to study, meet, and work in a state-of-the-art lab containing three three Pentium III® computers (one with a CD-ROM writer), a color graphics and document scanner, a color printer, and software tools for computer-based learning, research, and teaching, including the production of online essays and class projects.