Williams, E.T. (Edward Thomas), 1854-1944

Brief Biographical Sketch

Edward Thomas Williams was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1854. In 1875 he graduated from Bethany College and was also ordained in the Disciples of Christ Church. After serving in pastorates at Springfield (Illinois), Denver, Brooklyn, and Cincinnati, he was sent to China in 1887. Here he became intensely interested in the country and began to study the language, history and customs.

In 1896 Williams left the ministry to serve the American goverment in China in a succession of posts of increasing importance and responsibility. For several years he was interpreter to the American Consulate-General at Shanghai, and from 1901 to 1908, Chinese Secretary of the American Legation at Peking. In 1909 while serving as Consul General at Tientsin, he was transferred to Washington to the post of Assistant Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs in the Department of State.

Williams returned to China in 1911 as Secretary and Chargé d'Affairs of the American Legation at Peking. As such he was able to observe first-hand the revolutionary movement and to represent the United States government on the occasion of the recognition of the Chinese Republic. Again recalled to Washington, he served as Chief of the Division of Far Easten Affairs in the Department of State from 1914 to 1918. He resigned in 1918 and accepted the position of third Agassiz Professor of Oriental Languages and Literature at the University of California at Berkeley. His academic career was interruped several months later when he went to the Paris Peace Conference as technical advisor on far eastern affairs to the American commission. Again in 1921 he was granted leave to serve as consultant on far eastern questions to the American delegation to the Conference on the Limitation of Armaments.

In the course of his academic career he wrote two books, China Yesterday and Today (1923), and A Short History of China (1928), many articles on China and the far east, and reviews and translations. He was a memeber of numerous societies and received three decorations from the Chinese government. Professor Williams retired in 1927 and died in Berkeley in 1944.

From the guide to the Edward Thomas Williams Papers, [ca. 1872-1944], (The Bancroft Library)