Obituary of Dr. Roland L. Williams, Jr.
A Scholar and a Gentleman
Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore,
Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,
To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout,
And laughing dash with your hair. ___Song of Myself, Walt Whitman
Roland Leander Williams, Jr. was born on the sixth day of the sixth month at 6:00 am in Valley Forge, PA to the late Florence Evans and Roland Leander Williams, Sr. A great grandson of an American slave, he was raised on Race Street in Philadelphia.
Roland had 2 older sisters, Ellen and Renee, and 2 younger twin (identical) brothers, Melvin and Marvin. He told his Mom when she was pregnant and on the way to the hospital, to bring home 2 brothers. At the time, 1956, she gave birth to twins and never knew that she was pregnant with 2 babies! He said he was the one who could tell the difference between the two of them. Roland loved being an older brother, playing with the twins and traipsing all over Fairmount Park with them and guarding over them. Education was always stressed in his family and all five kids earned college degrees.
On different occasions, he and his father went to historic sites in Old City. They went to Independence Hall when the Liberty Bell sat in the foyer and he was able to touch the crack in the bell, then visited the Betsy Ross House where the original stars and stripes were stitched together and then walked around the Christ Church burial grounds and for good luck, he tossed a penny on Benjamin Franklin's grave. His father described Franklin as the perfect example of what you can make of yourself if you put your mind to it. He stated that the rule applies to blacks just as well as whites. His father stressed that knowledge is power. His father took him to the library and signed him up for a library card and Roland browsed the shelves in the children's section and found an illustrated biography of Benjamin Franklin that recounted how the man rose high in society from a hardscrabble life through the use of learning. The story stuck with him and it put his father's thoughts into perspective. He said, "that man was no brighter than you son, this is why you need to learn the whole story about blacks in the city; so you realize you can do more than they let it look like you can do." Roland's thirst for knowledge began early on.
Roland attended Our Mother of Sorrows and went on to St Joseph's Prep where he became the first President of the Black Students Association and in 2019 he was awarded the Bakari Trailblazer Award as an Alumni of Distinction. He excelled in English literature despite having dyslexia which was discovered while he was writing his dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania. His adviser, Professor Robert Regan, identified it since he, too, was dyslexic. He earned his Master's and PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. His Master's thesis focused on Mark Twain and his dissertation focused on slave narratives, titled
Sweet Music: A Sounding of American Narratives which became the publication, African-American Autobiography and the Quest for Freedom.
Roland was an avid reader and thrived on learning but he also loved basketball. As a result, he coached a team of high school friends who are still close to this day. When he and his wife moved to Philadelphia in 1995, he became an assistant professor at Temple University. He was so excited because he had two nephews, Kahlil and Kairi, that were like his sons. He would have them over on Saturdays and they would have to study first and then they got to play basketball. Kahlil became a teacher and local school administrator following in his Uncle's footsteps and his daughters are both scholarly and play basketball!
Roland advanced the ranks at Temple becoming a full professor and, finally, Chair of the English Department. He was a scholar of American culture and cinema. He loved working with Temple students and faculty. He was a generous teacher and mentor and taught students about Autobiography, critical analysis through literature and ways of seeing through film; he drew from his life experience to highlight the writing's pull over the land. He was committed to the historical mission of Temple - to "turn rough diamonds into polished stones" (educators) in Philadelphia. Per Roland:
"...Fueled by the national spirit authorizing the convention at issue,
my life blasted off its launch pad with a rather ideal trajectory. It arched from poverty and ran
toward prosperity... Had I never swam in the mainstream, I would have sunk into defeat. My
upbringing kept hope alive in the depths of my soul..."
He previously taught at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Delaware, Haverford College, Otterbein College and The Ohio State University.
Roland met his wife, Andrea, when he was an Instructor at The Ohio State University from 1990 - 1995. A colleague in the English Department, Ike Newsum, introduced them. Early on, Roland gave her part of his dissertation to read and it provided the footprint to his soul. They married in 1994 and moved to Philadelphia when he began his academic career at Temple University. They enjoyed taking walks, traveling, summer vacations at the Jersey shore, the museums and culture of the city and living near the Schuylkill River up the street from a four mile trail to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Their marriage was filled with happiness and joy and he will be deeply missed.
Roland was predeceased by his parents, his sister Renee and his brother Melvin. He leaves behind his wife, Andrea, his sisters Ellen and Sheryl, brother Marvin, nieces Tiffany and Teralyn Carter, nephews Kairi and Kahlil Williams, and Russell, Rashan and Roland Carter plus numerous cousins and other beloved family members.
"An artful hand can turn a stumbling block into a Stepping Stone." riiphd
Follow your Bliss.
Publications:
Black Figures on White Sheets by Moon Stone Press (www.moonstoneartscenter.com) Philadelphia, PA Copyright 2024 Roland Leander Williams (a little book of Poetry)
SMOOTH OPERATING and Other Social Acts, State University of New York Press, Albany, 2022
Black Male Frames: African Americans in a Century of Hollywood Cinema (1903-2003), Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2014.
African American Autobiography and the Quest for Freedom, West-port, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000
A Memorial Tree was planted for Dr. Roland
We are deeply sorry for your loss ~ the staff at Falco, Caruso & Leonard Funeral Home - Camden
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Enrico T. Caruso Jr.
Executive Director
NJ Lic No 3216 / PA Lic. No FD-013656- E