Wednesday, September 19, 2007
William Wendell Layton, 92, a former official on the staff of the Federal Reserve Board, died Sept. 12 at the Methodist Home in Washington, where he had lived for the past five years. He had Parkinson's disease.
Mr. Layton had lived in Washington since 1965, when he became director of contract compliance for the Department of Agriculture. In 1971, he became one of the first African American senior staff officials of the Federal Reserve Board, where he was director of affirmative action hiring throughout the Federal Reserve System. He retired in 1977 but continued as a consultant to the Federal Reserve Board until 1981.
Mr. Layton was born in Hanover, Va., and graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He received a master's degree in sociology from Fisk University in Nashville in the late 1930s and did further graduate study at Michigan State University.
After working in the Nashville public schools, Mr. Layton began his professional career in 1942 with the Urban League in Columbus, Ohio. From 1951 to 1959, he was executive of the Urban League chapter in Muskegon, Mich. He then spent six years as director of education and community services for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission in Lansing, Mich., before moving to Washington.
Mr. Layton had a second home in Millwood, Va., which had been in his family since 1871. He enjoyed traveling in Europe and Africa and was a dedicated bridge and tennis player. He also wrote poetry.
He collected documents associated with the Civil War and the abolitionist movement and often lectured about his collection. He was a member of many historical organizations, including the Columbia Historical Society, U.S. Capitol Historical Society, the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia and the McCormick Civil War Institute of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va.
He was a founding member of the Fort Collier Civil War Center in Winchester and served on the boards of the Grafton School in Berryville, Va., the Shenandoah Arts Council, the Clarke County chapter of the Red Cross and the Wayside Theater in Middletown, Va. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club; the Torch Club, a youth leadership group; and the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
A daughter, Serena Davis, died in 1988.
Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Phoebe Anderson Layton of Washington and Millwood; two daughters, Andree Roaf of Pine Bluff, Ark., and Mary Layton of Washington; four grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
-- Matt Schudel
