McCullough A. Williams Jr. left his mark on Youngstown

Youngstown lost one of its pioneers of the 20th century last week.
Throughout most of the second half of the century, McCullough A. Williams Jr. broke new ground in the city and throughout the region.
He was a successful Negro businessman and politician in the 1950s, a member of the school board in the 1970s when Youngstown hired its first black superintendent and an elder statesman for the African-American community at the turn of the century.
While the terminology may have changed over the decades, Williams did not. He remained a steadfast champion of equal rights and -- as one would expect from his long membership in the Roberts Deliberating Club -- an articulate spokesman for justice.
Over the years, The Vindicator ran hundreds of stories about Williams.
He was elected to city council in 1957 from the Third Ward, and while some council rookies may have been intimidated, Williams had ideas for making the city a better place and wasted no time in pursuing them.
Broad agenda
Almost immediately, he called for strong enforcement of the city's gun laws, he suggested hiring meter maids to handle parking enforcement and establishing sidewalk crews to alleviate unemployment and to provide a needed service. He immediately became a champion of slum clearance and took on the towing monopoly that the city had with one company.
He demanded an investigation into police mistreatment of black people and suggested that the Youngstown Transit Co. refurbish its buses rather than buy new ones.
And he did all that in just two terms on council, and while he worked to develop the successful funeral home business that bore his name and while he remained active in community organizations and causes.
He served on the board of education at a time when racial tensions were high -- in the schools and on the board. Throughout his years on the board he provided an example and a level of leadership that was exemplary.
Over the years, Williams received awards and commendations in recognition of his leadership and his philanthropy that are too numerous to mention.
His name will live on in his business, in scholarships he endowed, in the peoples' lives that he touched and in the history of the area that he helped to write.