Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
By
John C Abercrombie
Daniel Hale Williams was born in Pennsylvania in 1844, one of 8 children born to Daniel and Sarah Williams. Daniel’s father was a barber but died of tuberculosis when Daniel was only 9 years old.
His mother moved the family to Maryland but realizing that she was having difficulty providing for all of them, sent some to live with other relatives. Daniel went to work as a shoemaker and did so for 3 years but realized that he did not like the work. He ran away to join his mother who by this time had moved to Illinois.
He left Illinois and moved to Wisconsin to live with one of his sisters. There, he opened a barber shop like his father had when he was a child.
Daniel had a love of education and worked hard, attending school at every opportunity. He graduated from High School at the age of 21.
Later, he became fascinated by the medical profession and went to work as an apprentice to Dr. Henry Palmer. Palmer had 3 apprentices and with his help and encouragement, they applied and were accepted by the Chicago Medical School, which is now known as Northwestern University, one of the best medical schools available. He graduated with a M.D. degree in 1883.
After graduation, Dr. Williams started practice in Chicago. When he started there were only 3 other Black physicians in Chicago. This is due in part to the fact that Blacks were not welcomed into medical schools. In fact, they were not welcomed into most institutions of higher learning. This led to the formation of HBCU’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities. There were only 2 Black Medical Colleges, Howard and Meharry.
Dr. Williams worked at South Side Dispensary and there he could practice medicine and his specialty surgery. He continued to maintain an association with Northwestern University Medical School and worked as an anatomy instructor there.
Dr. Williams practice grew as he treated both Black and White patients.
Dr. Williams was an advocate of medical standards and hospital rules. He was highly aware of the prejudice against Black patients in hospitals and the inferior treatment that they received, if they were given service at all. In 1890 he became aware of the plight of Emma Reynolds who was refused admission to nursing school because she was Black. This led Dr. Williams to the formation of Provident Hospital and Nursing Training School in 1891.
Dr. Williams was suited to this new role because of his strict insistence that his physicians remain abreast of emerging medical discoveries. This policy produced a great training hospital for new and emerging nurses.
Dr. Williams gained fame in 1893 when a patient by the name of James Cornish entered the hospital with a stab wound to the chest. Dr. Williams performed a new type of surgery to repair a tear in the heart lining, saving his life.
Following the widely acclaimed surgery, President Grover Cleveland nominated him to become the Surgeon-in Chief at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.
While at Freedman’s Hospital, he established a model internship program for graduate physicians and other improvements that lead to a declining mortality rate and a decrease in the number of unnecessary surgical cases.
In 1895, he helped organize the National Medical Association. Many Black organizations in medical and other professions were necessary because White organizations refused to allow Blacks to join. The National Medical Association was the only national organization open to Black physicians.
In 1898, he returned to Provident as the Chief of Surgery. A skilled surgeon, he performed another breakthrough operation. Although less well known than the heart surgery he successfully sutured a patient’s spleen.
Throughout his career, Dr. Williams was involved in community affairs.
The progress of medical care for Blacks increased significantly. In 1900, there were 10 hospitals for Blacks where a decade earlier there were none. This is a sad state of affairs when people are denied medical care based on their skin color alone.
Dr. Williams became a visiting professor at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, one of only 2 medical schools in America for Black doctors.
In 1912, he was appointed attending staff surgeon at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago. St. Luke’s is now known as Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center. He served there until 1926 when he suffered a stroke. After suffering the stroke, he retired and lived In Michigan until his death in 1931.
Despite the advances made by Dr. Williams, a great number of Blacks were denied medical treatment all around America because of the color of their skin. Accident victims were denied service. Serious medical conditions were denied service because physicians did not accept Black patients. When there were separate facilities that would accept Black patients, they were not funded at the same level as other institutions.
The record of medical services to Black patients in America is improving, but it has been a long hard road for those denied service for so long.
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Dr. Daniel Hale Williams – The First Black Heart Surgeon In America
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History
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Dr. Daniel Hale Williams First Black Heart Surgeon In America | Timeline
Daniel Hale Williams (January 18, 1856[1] – August 4, 1931) was an American general surgeon, who in 1893 performed the first documented, successful pericardium surgery in the United States to repair a wound. He founded Chicago’s Provident Hospital, the first non-segregated hospital in the United States and also founded an associated nursing school for African Americans. The heart surgery at Provident, which his patient survived for the next twenty years, is referred to as “the first successful heart surgery” by Encyclopedia Britannica. In 1913, Williams was elected as the only African-American charter member of the American College of Surgeons
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Daniel Hale Williams (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Inventors & Scientists)
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The heart man: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
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Dr Daniel Hale Williams 300
Well narrated video that describes the horrific conditions that made the need for Black doctors and medical facilities. White doctors refused to treat Black patients. White hospitals refused to admit Black patients. Williams founded Provident Hospital and medical training facilities to correct this severe problem.
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Educating Black Doctors: A History of Meharry Medical College
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Dr Daniel Hale Williams worked in a time that is hard for some to imagine. Many hospitals would not treat Blacks. Ambulances dispatched to horrific accidents may refuse to even transport Blacks. Training facilities were little to none. Yes, there were some, but it was a difficult process. Therefore, Provident Hospital was a terrific achievement. This in addition to the pioneering surgery should have propelled him into the spotlight but many still do not know him. Those of you who have a passion for what ever the subject, can use this as inspiration to make your mark in your own field. Never give up!