(born Elizabeth Barbara Williams; February 11, 1868 – July 14, 1931) was an American Black Catholic nun who founded the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary in 1916.

Born on February 11, 1868, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Williams received her education from the "Ladies of the Sacred Heart" and from the Sisters of the Holy Family, second oldest society of African-American religious in the United States.

[1] A 1915 bill in the Georgia Legislature proposed to forbid white teachers from instructing black children in public schools.

[2] It threatened the closure of joint schools founded by Father Lissner in Georgia and staffed by Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.

They taught by day and, to supplement their meagre earnings, ran a laundry business at night and begged along the waterfront on weekends.