Williams recognized with Virginia R. Miller Award

Mrs. Sharon Williams accepted the Virginia R. Miller Award for her husband, Steve Williams, from Huntington County Historical Society board member Mike Perkins, shown at right.

The award recognizes Steve’s contributions to promoting historical preservation and education throughout the county. A lifelong resident of Huntington County, Williams is a Roanoke native who grew up on the outskirts of the town, graduated from Roanoke High School, and practiced law until his retirement in 2022. The Williamses live just outside Roanoke.

Though he lacked formal academic training in history, Williams developed a deep appreciation for the past through his grandmother, Zola Zent Williams. The stories she and his maternal grandfather, Rev. Samuel Henderson, shared with him sparked an interest in Jackson Township history that led to many years of service on the board of directors of the Roanoke Area Heritage Center.

His grandmother also shared with Williams many accounts from the diaries of a family member, Union Army Colonel Sam Zent, of the 13th Indiana Regiment, which sparked a strong interest in the Civil War. Zent had enlisted in Roanoke and commanded troops during the storming of Fort Fisher in an 1865 battle that led to the capture of Wilmington, North Carolina – the last active Confederate port on the Atlantic Ocean. Williams, dressed in period costume, entertained local audiences for many years with “first-person presentations” of the colonel.

Williams has been actively involved for a long time in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the Civil War Roundtable, both based in Fort Wayne. The Williamses are lifetime members of the Huntington County Historical Society, and, as a new society publication stated, “are exemplars of how we can honor those who came before us by sharing the stories of how they helped build the communities and values we hold dear today.”

The Historical Society established the Virginia R. Miller Award in 1984. Virginia Miller was a member of a local craft club that, as a 1976 American Bicentennial project, created a model replica of the village of Huntington as it appeared during the days of the settlers. She was the first recipient of this award, which was named in her honor. A panel consisting of previous Miller Award recipients selects the honoree.