ACHIEVEMENTS

Williams had loved drawing and working with his hands as long as he could remember.  He worked in a variety of media, cartooning, painting, block printing, woodcarving, crafting chain armor, and sculpting, using pen and ink, acrylics and oils, as well as forging techniques. He once created a 75-pound cast iron bust of a horse.

During college, military and medical school days, he produced many cartoons, book illustrations, and a range of graphic pieces.  He was noted for his satirical cartoons of faculty and classmates.

While attending the University of Kansas before World War II, he was the art editor of the Jayhawker magazine.  He updated their mascot with his version of the Jayhawk, later known as the “Fighting Jayhawk” with an eagle-like scowl.  This version was in common use by the University from 1941-1946.  It was also used proudly by KU athletic teams and alumni who were fighting overseas during World War II.

While serving in the war, Williams received a request by mail from the university to use the “Fighting Jayhawk”.  Permission was granted with little thought to copyright privileges.  The Jayhawker yearbooks for the years 1943, 1947 and 1948 bore Yogi’s humorous touches in cartoons depicting Jayhawks as lovebirds, basketball stars, eggheads, and Big Wheels on Campus.  Later in the early 1950s, he designed the “Medical Jayhawk”, the official mascot of the KU School of Medicine.  Along with the medical version came the “Jayhen, MD”, the “Emergency Medical MD”, and the “Jaystork”.

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the “Fighting Jayhawk” was put back to work.  To raise money to assist family members of the victims of the attacks, this mascot was printed on T-shirts along with the US flag and the phrase “United We Stand”.  T-shirts quickly sold out, but a $3 lapel pin featuring the “Fighting Jayhawk” was also sold.  More than $40,000 was raised in this effort.

Williams became quite involved in wood carving and blacksmithing while living in Phoenix.  He learned to carve characters in wood from Andy Anderson, a well-known cowboy woodcarver.  The result was a series of whimsical characters, such as a gunfighter reaching for his holster while hiding another gun behind his back.

He was drawn into blacksmithing through a good friend, J. E. Hawley, and later provided the illustrations for Hawley’s book, The Blacksmith and His Art.

Following his return to El Dorado, Williams did several bronzes from Western history using the lost wax method.  After carving the originals from wax, they were sent to Loren Phippen of the Bear Paw Bronze Works foundry in Arizona for casting.  Packing and crating were done with care, with shipping temperatures guarded closely.  Once at the foundry, a multiple process of casting was begun.  Each step, from the application of a flexible mold material over the original to the final chemical coloring of the bronze figure, required the skill of an artist’s hand.

One of William’s pieces, “His Brand”, depicted a blacksmith at his anvil with a cowboy kneeling nearby.  The blacksmith was a self-portrait of Williams himself; the cowboy was former El Dorado mayor Max Main.  Other popular bronzes included “Chief Crazy Horse” and “Jim Bridger”, the latter chosen to appear in the National Sculpture Society’s New York show in 1979.

He also did several bronzes that were first carved in wood.  He laughingly remembered that his first bronzes were “sponsored” by friends who agreed to pay for a series so they would be able to acquire one at cost.  Williams’ meticulous eye for detail and his gift for sly, satirical humor added a special dimension to his work.

“I’ve painted for as long as I can remember, but it always has been for fun,” Williams once said.  “I want to maintain that fun attitude.  After a coronary, your philosophy changes.  If it’s not fun, I’m not interested.  Being profitable isn’t enough.”

Long an aficionado of medieval times, many of his paintings reflected that interest.  A trained archeologist as well as an accomplished armorer, he owned a large collection of armor and weaponry.  He added his own recreations of pieces he was unable to acquire, such as a forged reconstruction of the Helm of Bozen.  The original helmet, which was found in the tower at Bolzano, dates from the late 13th or early 14th century.

In 1979, Williams designed El Dorado’s official city flag as part of the city’s bi-centennial observance.  He also designed the “Land of Oz” El Dorado centennial logo in 1971, as well as his versions of the mascots for El Dorado High School and Butler County Community College.

During his last year of life, Williams had seriously returned to his first love of art, and was beginning to receive recognition for his bronze sculptures.  He had submitted an application for his work to be included in an art show in Monte Carlo, and arrangements were under way to supply a number of art galleries in the West with his latest pieces.  One of his last commissions was to design and cast a large Medical Jayhawk for the lobby of the new medical arts building at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City.


AWARDS, RECOGNITION

While at KU, Williams was awarded the first Pfizer Fellowship in medical audiovisual education.  This four-year fellowship ran conjointly with his surgical residency.

In February of 1975, Arizona News’ magazine, This Weekend, devoted a major portion to Williams and his art.  This was just one of many write-ups in various newspapers he received.

Williams’ continues to be exhibited in numerous museums across the nation, including the Phippen-O’Brien Gallery and Troy’s Cowboy Art Gallery in Scottsdale, the Meyer Gallery in Salt Lake City, Sanders Galleries in Tucson, the Wichita Art Museum, the Wiedemann Gallery of the Wichita Art Association, Butler County Community College, the Rolla A. Clymer Community Room of Bradford Memorial Library and Coutts Memorial Museum of Art.

Shortly before his death, he was one of eighty-five artists whose work was selected by the National Sculpture Society for a New York show.

In May of 1980, Williams was honored posthumously as Alumnus of the Year by members of the University of Kansas Medical Alumni Association, the first graduate to be so honored.  A highlight of the event was the unveiling of the Jayhawk M.D. bronze sculpture designed and completed in wax shortly before his death.  A smaller copy of this piece was offered in a limited edition by the K U Alumni association, with part of the proceeds to be used for medical scholarships in Dr. Williams’ name at the med center.
    

BIBLIOGRAPHY / SOURCE LIST

L. P. Klintworth, True Tales of the Kingdom of Butler; BCHS, El Dorado, KS, 1981; pp 206-207

R. A. Clymer, Farewells; BCHS, El Dorado, KS, 1986; pp 117

Family Files, Clymer Library; BCHS, El Dorado, KS / originals in archives

Obits, Clymer Library; BCHS, El Dorado, KS

The El Doradoan – 1941; El Dorado High School, El Dorado, KS, 1941

Polk’s El Dorado City Directory – 1941; R. L. Polk & Co., Kansas City, MO, 1941; pp 138

1976 El Dorado City Directory; R. L. Polk & Co., Kansas City, MO, 1976; pp 199

The El Dorado Times – March 21, 1974

The El Dorado Times – December 23, 1980; pp 2

The El Dorado Times – June 20, 2002; pp 1