Portrait unveiled of Helen Bass Williams, Purdue’s first Black professor

A new painting, thought to be the first of a Black faculty member at Purdue, comes amid a year of honors for Williams, in a pioneering story gaining traction on campus

Briggitta August, director of diversity and inclusion initiatives for Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts, talks with Dean David Reingold, left, and Associate Dean Joel Ebarb after Thursday’s unveiling of a portrait of Helen Bass Williams. (Photo: Dave Bangert)

A couple things came together a year ago in the quiet legend of the late Helen Bass Williams, as Briggitta August assembled the people and spaces for the first Black & Gold Black History at Purdue walking tours.