The Ephraim Williams Society

A planned gift and bequest recognition society for Williams College

The Ephraim Williams Society recognizes alumni, spouses, parents and friends who have established planned gift arrangements with Williams or included the college in their estate plans. All are welcome to join. Please call the Office of Gift Planning if you would like information or assistance as you prepare your own estate plans. 

Membership in The Ephraim Williams Society is honorary and is open to all friends who have demonstrated their commitment to the College’s future by establishing life income gifts (pooled income funds, charitable remainder trusts, or gift annuities), or by including Williams in their wills, trusts or as beneficiary of a life insurance policy, retirement plan, or donor advised fund. No gift minimum or proof of bequest intention is required. All are welcome!

If Williams is included as a beneficiary of your estate and you would like to be welcomed to The Ephraim Williams Society, or if you are already a member and would like to share the details of your future intention, please complete this Membership Form or contact us to share or discuss your future intention or request a Membership Form by mail.

The name of the society comes from the bequest that marked the founding of the college. The final will of Ephraim Williams Jr., provided for the "support and maintenance of a free school in a township west of Fort Massachusetts," a township later named Williamstown. 

Documents from Williams’s life, including his will, show that he enslaved at least five Black people, named Prince, J. Romanoo, Moni, London, and Cloe.  In the 2020-21 academic year, the College’s Committee on Diversity and Community (CDC) examined institutional history, with a focus on slavery and colonialism. 

One of the main charges of the committee was to set a framework for how to grapple with this history — including that of the College’s namesake.  The work of this committee is ongoing and iterative. Their report, sets the table for continuing conversation. It documents the issues they investigated, sets a roadmap for how to approach this work , and provides many opportunities for input from the college community. 

For more information, call the Office of Gift Planning (413) 597-3538 or e-mail us at gift.planning@williams.edu.

Meet the Chair of The Ephraim Williams Society

"A Williams Legacy gift is bigger than leaving something behind, it's about thinking forward and affirming our capacity to secure a place for Ephs who haven't yet been born. Our lives would be very different today without the generosity of alumni who, even centuries ago, believed in Williams College and its unique ability to prepare remarkable students for an unpredictable future. Ephraim Williams Society members know the value of a future gift is more than a promise, it is our expression of gratitude, a statement of confidence, and an investment in the enduring power of an unparalleled liberal arts education."

-Martha Williamson '77, Trustee and Legacy Society Chair

Martha’s contributions to the Williams community are numerous. Not only is she the Chair of Williams’ Legacy Society, she has served on the Board of Trustees since 2012. Additionally, she is a member of The W, Williams first Women’s giving circle. She has been a frequent guest lecturer for the Winter Study leadership class and a director and playwriting advisor to the Williams Summer Theatre Lab. In 1991, she and Peter Nelson ’76 founded the Williams Arts and Entertainment Fellowship which provides internships and support for students and graduates interested in arts careers. Martha oversees the J. Lindley and Louise R. Williamson Scholarship Fund established in 1995. Martha returns every Reunion weekend as producer and performer with fellow alumni from Ephlats and The Williams Cabaret. She received the Bicentennial Medal in 2003.

Martha first arrived on campus in the fall of 1973, seeing Williams for the first time only three days before classes began. Born and raised in Denver, she applied to Williams after a friend described it as “the Ivy League with the nicest people” and came here with the assistance of a Gates Scholarship and a financial aid package from the college. An art history major, she spent most of her free time directing and performing in the theater, including the production of several original plays and musicals. She sang with the Ephlats for four years and served as its director.

With the support of numerous Williams alumni, she moved to Los Angeles after graduation to become a screenwriter. Today she is president and CEO of MoonWater Productions, an entertainment production company specializing in family and inspirational entertainment. Martha is best known as the executive producer and head writer of “Touched By An Angel,” which received nine Emmy nominations over its nine-year run on CBS. Martha became the first woman to be sole executive producer of two television series simultaneously when she then created and executive-produced “Promised Land,” also for CBS. A popular speaker and the author of several books, her recent projects as producer include “Young Sheldon,” the dramatic/comedy series “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” and a family drama in development for CBS Entertainment.

Martha’s work has been inducted into the Television and Radio Hall of Fame.  Other honors include the Producers Guild Nova Award, the Edward R. Murrow Responsibility in Television award, a Templeton Prize, awards from the  U. S. Congress, the NAACP, and the Anti-Defamation League.

Martha lives in Southern California with her husband and their two children.

Learn more about the Annual Ephraim Williams Society Breakfast »