Williams was born Clara Belle Drisdale in Plum, Texas, on October 29, 1885.
She pursued her education on scholarship at the Prairie View Normal and Independent College, graduating as valedictorian in 1905.
For the duration of her studies, professors did not allow her into the lecture halls; she took notes and attended classes in the hallway.
[5] Williams taught at Lincoln High School, which opened in an A.M.E. Church in Las Cruces after the institution of segregation removed African-American students from integrated Las Cruces schools in the 1920s when state law allowed districts to segregate.
[10] In 2005 the building of the university's English department was renamed Clara Belle Williams Hall.