NAT D. WILLIAMS

Nathaniel Dowd Williams, known as Nat D. Williams or simply Nat D., was an American high school teacher, on-air personality, journalist, and editor.

He was born on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Known for his ‘’jive’’ patter on the air, Williams had a large African American listening audience and heralded the changing radio style which helped to create "Black appeal radio", which in turn led to the urban contemporary listening format of Black radio in the 1960s and '70s.

In 1948, Nat D. became the first African American disc jockey in Memphis when he went on air for WDIA-AM. Williams was a history teacher in the Memphis City schools for 42 years while working as an air personality. At WDIA-AM he was a gatekeeper who watched for lyrics that were obscene to the station's audience and detrimental to Black radio.

Nat D. Williams maintained his afternoon drive show and never failed to appear for his on-air work. It was only in 1972 that he went off the radio due to a stroke; Rufus Thomas replaced him on air.