Maria Priscilla Thurston Williams (1866–1932) was a newspaper editor, film producer, author, and scriptwriter. She is credited as the first African-American woman film producer for the silent crime drama The Flames of Wrath in 1923. [1] A one-time school teacher, Williams had a history of activism, independence and interest in the liberal arts, which led her first to newspapers, then to film production, script-writing and acting and, finally, to memoir with her 1916 book My Work and Public Sentiment, in which she identified herself as a national organizer and speaker with the Good Citizens League, and stated that ten percent of the proceeds would go to suppressing crime among African Americans. [2] [3]
Williams served as editor-in-chief (1891–1894) of the Kansas City weekly New Era. [3] This spurred her to seek greater independence by founding, writing and editing her own newspaper, The Woman's Voice (1896–1900), "sponsored by the 'colored women's auxiliary' of the Republican Party; the paper was described as having "many pleasant things to say on a choice of timely topics.'" [4] In 1916, Williams went on to publish her memoir. [2]
In 1916, Williams also married entrepreneur Jesse L. Williams, who owned a movie theater among several other businesses in Kansas City. [5] The pair co-managed the movie theater, which gave the couple experience in the distribution and release of films for African-American audiences. [5] With Williams serving both as the company's secretary and treasurer, the couple went on to co-found Western Film Producing Co. and Booking Exchange, [5] and Williams went on to write the script for Flames of Wrath, produce a film from the script and play the role of prosecuting attorney in the five-reel film. [1] [4] That same year, Williams' husband died, and she soon went on to marry another man. [4] She died in 1932, after being "called away from her home by a stranger who requested help for his ill brother. [4] She was found shot to death on the side of a road several miles from her home. The murder remains unsolved." [4]
Ironically, the plot for ''Flames of Wrath'' concerns the investigation of a murder after a robbery. [6] Aimee Dixon Anthony stated that Williams could also reasonably be considered the film's director, given how undifferentiated the two roles were at that time. [7] That distinction is typically granted to Tressie Souders, however, who served as director of 1922's A Woman's Error. [7]