Wayland Wells Williams

Wayland Wells Williams (1888–1945) was an American writer from New Haven, Connecticut. Yale archival records describe him as a New Haven area writer, and surviving collections of his papers show that he worked on both published and unpublished fiction, including novels such as The Whirligig of Time and Goshen Street.

Sources about his wider career suggest that his interests extended beyond literature. Connecticut arts history notes that he served on the staff of the Yale University Art Gallery and later became a voluntary state director connected with the WPA Federal Art Project in the 1930s, reflecting a life that moved between writing, art, and public cultural work.

Williams is remembered today mainly through his books, library records, and archival collections rather than broad popular fame. That gives his work a quietly rediscovered quality: the kind of early 20th-century writing that survives because institutions and readers kept it in circulation.