WILLIAMS FURNITURE

Inscription

WILLIAMS FURNITURE
1925-2004. FIRST UNION IN
SUMTER FORMED IN 1933.
WORKFORCE INTEGRATED BY
1936. PRODUCED FURNITURE
FROM ABUNDANT LOCAL LUMBER.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2026

In the early 1920s, the lumber industry was booming in Sumter, South Carolina. The extensive tracts of cypress timber throughout the area attracted milling companies, who cut and processed the hardwood. It was also drawing in accessory infrastructure, such as major railroad lines to transport timber, lumber, and wood products across America. In 1923, the City of Sumter’s Board of Trade put out a call for more lumber related industry to come to the area and take advantage of the resources and infrastructure being built.

In December of 1924, O.L. Williams brought together 103 stockholders to organize a furniture company in Sumter. They elected directors and officers, and O.L. Williams was elected as President. They also began to select a site to build the factory on. In August of 1925, the company was granted a charter by the State of South Carolina, authorizing their corporation to do business. They began producing wooden furniture products, which they successfully sold across the country.

The company had an integrated workforce as early as 1936, which was uncommon at the time. An early photo from 1936 of the factory floor shows both Black and White skilled workers making veneer furniture. Starting in the early 1930s there began to be some unrest among the employees. The workers began striking as early as 1933. In a news article from June of 1933, it was reported that the factory operated 24 hours a day, and that as many as 90 workers had failed to return after lunch due to low wages. However, many returned to their work by the end of the day, with no demands met.

By 1935, the strikes were becoming more frequent, and more organized. In July of 1935, an article printed O.L. Williams’ response to his striking workers 8 demands. Workers had, for example, demanded an 8-hour workday with a 1.5x pay rate for all time over that. The company responded that in their opinion, many of the workers were already happy with working longer hours regularly, and therefore they would not meet the demand. In fact, they accused outsiders of having planted this demand among the workers. They made excuses to refuse all 8 demands and negotiations stalled. It was reported that 800 employees had walked out for this strike, and the South Carolina Governor was involved in attempting to mediate.

Unrest went on until 1942, when the workers successfully formed a union. On June 2, 1942, the Williams Furniture Company signed the first union contract in Sumter with the local 273 of the United Furniture Workers of America. An article reporting on the event cited it as an example of the kind of contract that President Theodore Roosevelt had been calling for, as he attempted to manage the widespread labor unrest across the country.

Williams Furniture operated until 2004, when it was closed by its parent company, Vaughan-Bassett Furniture.

The student-led application for this grant came from students at the University of South Carolina, led by Dr. Jessica Elfenbein. The students researched Williams Furniture, then gathered and submitted the required materials for the historical marker as part of our Pomeroy Education Program.

This historic marker is also part of the Wood Basket of the World project at the University of South Carolina. The project has produced exhibits, oral histories, an anthology, and a mapping project, among many other educational efforts related to the history of the lumber industry in South Carolina. To learn more about the history of the lumber industry and its impact on South Carolina, visit the Wood Basket of the World site here: https://digital.library.sc.edu/woodbasket/