Williams was born in
Manhattan, New York. He enrolled at
Columbia College, Columbia University, in 1934 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1938. In June 1938, as a senior at Columbia, Williams was one of two recipients to win the Philolexian Prize for excellence in prose and poetry. The
Philolexian Society was, at the time, one of the three oldest literary societies in America. Williams received the prose prize for his essay, "The Elements of Jazz". The other recipient,
Ralph Toledano, president of the
Philolexian Society, won the poetry prize for his 28-line poem, "Primavera". The judges were
Jacques Barzun, instructor of history, and Howard Theodric Westbrook (1900–1944), instructor in Greek and Latin.
Columbia cohorts Williams' contemporaries at Columbia included: •
Ralph Gleason, in 1939 co-founded with Williams
Jazz Information, and in 1967, co-founded
Rolling Stone • Walter Elliott Schaap (1917–2005) (
CC class of 1937), noted pioneering jazz historian, father of
Phil Schaap, radio personality and jazz historian. •
Ralph de Toledano, in 1939 co-founded with Williams
Jazz Information •
Barry Ulanov (
CC class of 1939) was editor of
Metronome Magazine from 1943 to 1955
Family and death Eugene's father, Joseph Williams (1879–1934), died when he was . His mother, Anna Freid (maiden; 1885–1940), died when he was . He had only one sibling, a sister, Josephine Williams (1915–1983), who had been married to Joseph Akibba Turitz (1905–1956). Williams died May 5, 1948, in
Manhattan and his body was
cremated May 10, 1948, at Fresh Pond Crematory and Columbarium, located in
Middle Village, New York. == Selected work ==