Hosea Lorenzo Williams, ordained minister, chemist, Civil Rights activist, and politician became one of Atlanta's most influential political leaders of the twentieth century. Williams' Civil Rights legacy included leading hundreds of marchers across the Edmond Pettus Bridge outside Selma, Alabama along with John Lewis in what came to be known as "Bloody Sunday". Williams was also an architect for the Savannah Movement along with the Reverend Willie Bolden. The founder of Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless, a non-profit organization known for providing hot meals and clothing in Atlanta, Hosea Williams continued to fight for social change in the latter twentieth century.

Born on January 5, 1926 in Attapulgus, Georgia, Williams was raised by his grandparents Lena raised him and Turner Williams. During his teen years, Williams left his grandparents farm and relocated in Tallahassee, Florida where he held menial jobs. Before returning to school to complete his education Williams joined the United States Army during World War II. He earned the rank of Staff Sergeant in an all black unit. Williams earned the Purple Heart for surviving enemy attacks in France. After leaving the Army, the veteran survived another attack in which a mob beat him for drinking from a "whites only" water fountain in a bus station in Attapulgus, Georgia.

In 1947, at the age of twenty-three Williams graduated from Hutto High school and entered Morris Brown College where he earned a bachelor's degree in Chemistry. He later earned a master's degree in chemistry from Atlanta University. In 1952, he began working as the first black Research Chemist for the Department of Agriculture in Savannah, Georgia where he was employed until 1963.

During the 1950s, Williams organized Savannah's first black disabled Veteran Chapter. He led the campaign to integrate the Nancy Hank, the south's passenger train that ran from Atlanta to Savannah, and became the first to lead a movement to integrate public beaches in Savannah. Additionally, Hosea Williams integrated Savannah's American Chemical Society and later he integrated Savannah golf courses. Under the leadership of W. W. Law, he organized the political arm of the Savannah Chapter of the NAACP in 1958, resulting in the organization of the South's first successful voter registration program.

After an unsuccessful run for the NAACP Board of Directors, Reverend Williams formed the independent organization called the Chatham County Crusade for Voters in 1961. He also organized Georgia's first successful non-violent direct action campaign in Savannah, Georgia and was a sponsor for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) National Annual Convention.

Williams was a key figure in the Freedom Summer Voting Registration Campaign (1963), and founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peoples Church of Love in 1972. He led countless employees against companies such as Coca Cola and Sears and Roebuck & Company. In 1987, he led protesters against racial injustice in a march in predominantly white Forsyth County, Georgia.

Reverend Williams was elected to the Georgia General Assembly where he served until 1974 1984. In 1985, he was elected to one term on the Atlanta City Council and served years as a DeKalb County commissioner. Armed with "A Job to be Earned.... Not Bought" as one of his campaign slogans, Hosea Williams challenged Maynard Jackson for the Mayor of the city of Atlanta.

Hosea Williams died on November 16, 2000.