William Melbourne Glenn was born on June 22, 1903 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His father, William M. Glenn, was first a coachman, later a chauffeur for W.H. Anderson, President of Fourth National Bank. His mother was Emma Cole. William M. Glenn married Virginia Burnett in 1937.

Some of Glenn's ancestors were black, some white. As a result, Glenn learned of racial prejudice at an early age. Upon graduation from Central High School, the best job he could get was that of bellhop at the Pantlind Hotel in 1920. He worked at the Pantlind until 1941, when he obtained a job at the Hayes Manufacturing Company. Glenn was the first African American to be hired by Hayes, after the NAACP had broken the color barrier at the firm. Within a year, he was elected Shop Steward, and then joined the UAW-CIO, becoming Plant Committee Chairman. He was also elected to the Kent County Industrial Council and given the responsibility of seeing that the fair employment practices laws were working in Grand Rapids. He revealed to the State Representative of the Fair Employment Practices Commission that Blacks were not being generally employed in local industries. Not long afterwards, Blacks were working at General Motors, American Seating, and several other local plants.

In 1951 William Glenn received a leave from Hayes to visit Europe with a group of union people. In Paris, several members of the group, including Glenn, decided to accept an invitation to visit the Soviet Union. When Glenn returned to New York, his passport was taken by the Immigration Department. As a result of the attention given to his unauthorized visit to the Soviet Union, he was discharged from Hayes. Glenn filed a grievance with the State, and his case went to arbitration. He won, and was re-instated by Hayes. A group of fellow employees, however, staged a sit-down strike, and refused to work with him, and he was again fired. More arbitration ensued but he was refused unemployment compensation. His lawyers finally decided that the hysteria caused at the time by Senator Joseph McCarthy and others prevented Glenn's case from having much hope for success.

As a result Glenn began a garage building business with a friend. This firm later developed into house repair/remodeling, as well as purchasing property, fixing it up, and reselling it. Once successful in business, Glenn also turned his attention to civic causes.

Glenn began agitating for senior housing in 1950, when he published a newspaper called the Civic Reminder, which lasted less than a year. He served on the Committee on Racial Equality and was president of the Grand Rapids chapter of the NAACP. He was chairman of the Housing Committee of the Grand Rapids Urban League under Paul Phillips, and was the first labor representative on the governing board of the Family Service Agency. He also was treasurer of Planned Parenthood.

In 1971, the Western Michigan Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union chose him as its "Man of the Year" for his dedication and efforts in the causes of Civil Liberties the citation reads. Upon retirement from business, Glenn turned his attention to helping senior citizens. He was instrumental in organizing the local Concerned Senior Citizens, the XYZ Senior Citizens Center and Senior Neighbors, Inc. During his later years, he acted as an ombudsman for senior citizens, both black and white. His assistance included housing, food, medical care, or even burial expenses.