Betty Williams (1931-1997)

Betty Vickery Williams was a theatrical costume maker in New York City for over 40 years. Her work included costumed for the original productions of The Fantastics, Dames at Sea, The Boys in the Band, Oh Calcutta, Alfie, and Philadelphia Here I Come. She worked extensively with the New York City Opera, Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Jose Limone Company, The New York Shakespeare Festival, Goodspeed Opera Company and "The Lost Colony" in North Carolina. She was a founding member of The Studio, which nourished and influenced thousands of young designers and provided a workplace for the development of hundreds of off-Broadway and regional productions. In 1994, she received the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Citation of Excellence for her lifetime achievements.

Betty amassed an extensive archive of patterns, periodicals, and catalogues. She pioneered the resurgence of interest in commercial dressmaker patterns. Her archive is a major resource for theatrical and fashion designers as well as social historians. The collection of over 10,000 patterns dating from the 1860s though 1959, extensive library including tailoring journals, fashion periodicals, and pattern company catalogues was donated by her husband, Gene Williams, to the University of Rhode Island Library in 1998. Housed in Special Collections, this collection forms a significant portion of the Commercial Pattern Archive. The books and journals in her library are catalogued and accessible through the University of Rhode Island's on line HELIN catalog. Parts of the pattern collection are catalogued in the digital database, CoPA and is available on CD-ROM.

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Last updated: June 23, 2004
Created June 23, 2004