On Wednesday, May 1, Archie Williams’ birthday, at 2 p.m., administration unveiled a new exhibit honoring former teacher Archie Williams in the gym lobby. Community members delivered celebratory speeches to the small audience and live-streamed the event for viewers at home.
The exhibit included a wall-sized image of Archie Williams, along with a quote of his, and information about his life and legacy. The planning process began three years ago, mostly carried out by Vice Principal Nate Severin and former Vice Principal Chad Stewart. Stewart believes that this project, being such a long time coming, will leave a lasting impact on the Archie Williams community.
“Having this vision come true feels outstanding… There are a lot of people from Marin County, or [other schools that] play our teams and have no idea who he is, so by having this display it gives them the history of who he was and how much he accomplished,” Stewart said.
Prior to the reveal, three speakers shared a few words about what the exhibit means to them. The first speaker was former Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) Board Member and friend of Archie Williams, Chuck Ford.
Ford spoke about Williams’ time running; first for the University of California Berkeley, followed by the U.S. Olympic team in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He followed by speaking about Williams’ two decades-long career at Archie Williams, when it was named Sir Francis Drake High School, as a math and computer science teacher, and the profound impact he had, and still has, on so many students and alumni’s lives.
After Ford finished speaking, current Vice Principal Nate Severin shared words of his own. Shedding light on the three-year process it took to make this exhibit, Severin thanked multiple people who helped with the exhibit’s creation.
“The original idea was for people to really know more about Archie, whom our school is named after, and obviously he is very decorated in many different areas,” Severin said.
Archie Williams sophomore Fisher Straube agrees with Severin in the sense that remembering Williams should be a large part of the school community.
“I think it’s really important that we represent Archie Williams in our school, and we learn his history, so we know what our school’s named after. I also think it brings a sense of community to the student body,” Fisher said.
The final speaker before the unveiling was Archie Williams Principal Lasandra White. She started by letting the audience know the day would’ve been Archie William’s 109th birthday, and praised his time as a math and computer science teacher at Sir Francis Drake High School and how his legacy continues.
Stewart believes the ongoing education surrounding Archie Williams and his legacy is an important step towards community consciousness.
“It was a misstep in our community that we never recognized one of the only Black teachers to ever teach at this school, so we righted that mistake by naming the school after him. The impact of this is that people will know what he accomplished.”
With a proper introduction underway, Severin and White pulled down the tarp, revealing the new Archie Williams exhibit, a large photo board picturing a running Archie Williams. A paragraph illustrating Williams’ legacy accompanies the key photo, along with a small electric screen showing a moving slideshow containing further photos of Archie Williams.
The reveal concluded with cupcakes and cookies, as the TUHSD community celebrated Williams’ successful career and impactful life.
