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Clara Belle Drisdale Williams made history in 1937 when she became the first African American to graduate from the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now NMSU).
Clara was born on Oct. 29, 1885, in Plum, Texas, to Isaac and Malinda Drisdale. While growing up, Clara remembered her parents, sharecroppers who taught themselves to read and write, stressing the importance of education. In an interview with a Chicago newspaper, she recalled that her grandfather would bounce her up and down on his lap saying, “this is going to be my little school teacher.” Clara’s parents wanted their children educated at any cost. It is evident that Clara took her family’s advice in pursuing her education, although it was not an easy path due to racial segregation and discrimination.
Clara was educated in a one-room schoolhouse near her family residence in rural Texas. In 1901, Clara obtained a four-year scholarship to the Prairie View Normal and Industrial College in Prairie View, Texas (now Prairie View A&M University) where she obtained a teaching certificate. She was the valedictorian of her class in 1905. Upon graduating, she accepted a teaching position at Prairie View and that is where she met her husband, Jasper Williams. Although she and Jasper met in 1907, they were married in 1917. A few years into their marriage, the couple moved to El Paso, where they purchased a drugstore and raised a family. While living in El Paso, the couple became parents of three sons — Jasper, James, and Charles.
In 1924 after a fire destroyed their drugstore, Jasper and Clara moved near Las Cruces, where they homesteaded 640 acres of land. The Williamses planted pinto beans, corn and cotton on the land, and raised livestock. The motivating factor which led to their move to Vado, near the Las Cruces area was a teaching job. The teaching job was at an all African-American school that paid $100 monthly. Clara accepted the job, but teaching at the school had its obstacles, as families were resistant and did not welcome Clara as a teacher. During the first three months of teaching, her students consisted of her two sons and three other students.