Derita Coleman Williams

Derita Coleman Williams was the first woman to be Chairman of the Tennessee Historical Commission in 104 years. She served as Chairman for over 4 years until July of  2024. Williams was first appointed to the Commission in 2007 by Governor Phil Bredesen, was reappointed by Governor Bill Haslam in 2012 and 2017 and by Governor Bill Lee in 2021. Previously, she served as the Commission’s  Vice Chairman for West Tennessee.  As an active member, she serves as Vice President for West Tennessee of the Tennessee Historical Society.  Also, she has served on the Tennessee State Capital Commission and the Tennessee Residence Commission. She is a member Omicron Delta Kappa Honorary  and  the Junior League of Memphis.   Mrs. Williams has served on the board of Memphis Heritage, the Decorative Arts Trust at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and The Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange.

Mrs. Williams is an independent scholar in American material culture and private dealer in American fine art and decorative arts. She taught at the University of Memphis and Northwest Mississippi Community College for over 15 years. She holds a Master of Arts from the University of Memphis with post graduate studies at the
University of Memphis, University of North Carolina, and University of Delaware. She attended  the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts and the Henry Frances DuPont Winterthur Museum Summer Institute Programs.

Mrs. Williams served as field researcher for the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. She co-authored The Art and Mystery of Tennessee Furniture and Its Makers Through 1850 which is considered the definitive scholarship on the subject. Mrs. Williams authored A View of Tennessee Silversmiths in addition to numerous journal and magazine articles.  She has served as guest curator at Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and the Tennessee State Museum and lectured at Sotheby’s New York, Tennessee Arts Commission, Southern Viewpoint Lecture Series, and Tennessee Decorative Arts Symposium at Belmont University among other museum groups.

Mrs. Williams is a lifelong Memphian and is married to Robert M. Williams Jr. and they are proud parents of a son and
daughter-in-law with two grandchildren.  The Williams enjoy spending time in Montgomery County on a Century Farm that is on the National Register of Historic Places.