The William “Bill” Randall Williams Collection was donated to LaBudde Special Collections by Austin Williams in January 2017. Most items date from 1982-1986, when Bill Williams campaigned for and served as legislator for the 11th district in Jackson County. While the eulogy and obituary in the biographical series show the Bill Williams known by his family and friends, the collection as a whole is representative of William’s career as county legislator.

The largest part of the collection consists of news clippings. Those from 1981-1982 concern Williams’s campaign and most of those from 1983-1986 cover Williams’s actions during his term as legislator. There are also clippings covering the campaigns of Bill Williams’s brother John Williams and political ally-come-(alleged)-antagonist Bill Waris, and Stan O’Donnell, Williams’s opponent in the 1982 election for the 11th District. The clippings are organized chronologically so that events which were covered over multiple articles can be read as they were revealed to the public. Oversized clippings from all three categories are in map drawer #55.

The awards and certificates in this collection concern Williams’s scholastic and legislative career: diplomas from UMKC for his BA and JD, and an achievement award in economics; his admissions to the Missouri Bar, Western District of Missouri, Eighth Circuit Court of appeals, and legislature; and others including an official resolution of sympathy adopted on January 6, 2003, and signed by the Jackson County Legislature on Williams’s death.

Much of the collection concerns Williams’s 1982 campaign, with a few items from John Williams and Waris. The photos are headshots and what seem to be staged campaign pictures. The correspondence are letters of endorsement sent before the election and congratulatory notes following it.

Items in the collection which do not concern Williams directly are a memorial book and special editions of The Kansas City Star and educational magazine My Weekly Reader Surprise covering the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; and a 1989 article on autism therapy picturing the son of a friend.