William DeWitt Metz (June 13, 1914 - February 11, 2013) was an American historian specializing in Rhode Island History.
[2] From 1966-to-1967, Metz was a visiting distinguished Fulbright lecturer in American History at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.
He was also active with the Cocumscussoc Association, and gave numerous talks on East Africa (because of his sabbatical leave spent in Uganda) and on Rhode Island history throughout his career.
[2] After his retirement from the University of Rhode Island in 1982, Metz was instrumental in establishing the South County Museum in Narragansett, RI.
In 1997, the State of Rhode Island honored Metz for his lifelong community service by conferring the state's highest historic preservation award, the Antoinette F. Downing Volunteer Service Award, upon him at a statewide planning conference entitled "Preserving Place-Growing Smart," that was held at URI.