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Williams was born in Vinegar Hill Township in Jo Daveiss County in far northwestern [[Illinois]], to William D. Williams and the former Emma Necollins. His father died when Williams was a small boy, and he was reared by an uncle and grandmother. He was educated in the schools of the village of Hazel Green, [[Wisconsin]], located some ten miles west of Vinegar Hill. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts]] degree in 1931 from the [[University of Wisconsin]] at Platteville (then known as Platteville State College). He thereafter obtained his [[Master of Arts]] and [[Ph.D.]] from the University of Wisconsin at [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]] in 1932 and 1937, respectively. He studied under the influence of William Best Hesseltine (1902-1963). There he formed close friendships with fellow historians Frank Burt Freidel, Jr. (1916-1993) and Richard Nelson Current (1912-2012), with whom he later authored a standard U.S. history textbook dedicated to Hesseltine. He first instructed history in the extension division of UW from 1936 to 1938. He then accepted a professorship at the University of Omaha in [[Omaha]], [[Nebraska]] from 1938 to 1941. Then Williams relocated to LSU, where he was anchored as Boyd Professor for the remainder of his career.<ref name=dict/>

Williams was born in Vinegar Hill Township in Jo Daveiss County in far northwestern [[Illinois]], to William D. Williams and the former Emma Necollins. His father died when Williams was a small boy, and he was reared by an uncle and grandmother. He was educated in the schools of the village of Hazel Green, [[Wisconsin]], located some ten miles west of Vinegar Hill. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts]] degree in 1931 from the [[University of Wisconsin]] at Platteville (then known as Platteville State College). He thereafter obtained his [[Master of Arts]] and [[Ph.D.]] from the University of Wisconsin at [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]] in 1932 and 1937, respectively. He studied under the influence of William Best Hesseltine (1902-1963). There he formed close friendships with fellow historians Frank Burt Freidel, Jr. (1916-1993) and Richard Nelson Current (1912-2012), with whom he later authored a standard U.S. history textbook dedicated to Hesseltine. He first instructed history in the extension division of UW from 1936 to 1938. He then accepted a professorship at the University of Omaha in [[Omaha]], [[Nebraska]] from 1938 to 1941. Then Williams relocated to LSU, where he was anchored as Boyd Professor for the remainder of his career.<ref name=dict/>

The Boyd chair is named for [[Thomas Duckett Boyd]], a former LSU president during the peak of the post-Civil War embrace of the Lost Cause]] of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. Boyd was a brother of David French Boyd (1834-1899), a Confederate officer who had served on the original LSU faculty when the school was based in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] in Central Louisiana and under the first LSU president and subsequent [[Union Army]] [[General]] [[William Tecumseh Sherman]]. During his career, Williams did much to debunk the premises and defenders of The Lost Cause.<ref name=mcsween>{{cite web|url=http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2000/autumn/mcsween-t-harry-williams/|author=Harold B. McSween|title=T. Harry Williams: A Remembrance|publisher=''Virginia Quarterly Review: A National Journal of Literature & Discussion''|accessdate=July 13, 2009}}</ref>

The Boyd chair is named for [[Thomas Duckett Boyd]], a former LSU president during the peak of the post-Civil War embrace of the Lost Cause]] of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. Boyd was a brother of David French Boyd (1834-1899), a Confederate officer who had served on the original LSU faculty when the school was based in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] in Central Louisiana and under the first LSU president and subsequent Union Army [[General]] [[William Tecumseh Sherman]]. During his career, Williams did much to debunk the premises and defenders of The Lost Cause.<ref name=mcsween>{{cite web|url=http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2000/autumn/mcsween-t-harry-williams/|author=Harold B. McSween|title=T. Harry Williams: A Remembrance|publisher=''Virginia Quarterly Review: A National Journal of Literature & Discussion''|accessdate=July 13, 2009}}</ref>

==Fascination with Huey Long==

==Fascination with Huey Long==