Our History, Black History: Dr. Daniel Williams, Medical Innovator

There’s an old adage that says, “You never know where you are going unless you know where you have been.”

In the spirit of Black history month, the Monroe Dispatch will highlight stories and history of Black people.

It is no secret that many Blacks have made many advances in a variety of fields that include architecture, sports, and engineering among many others. Daniel Hale Williams contributed vastly to the American medical field.

Daniel was born in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, January 18, 1856 to Sarah Price Williams and Daniel Hale Williams II. His father was considered a free Black and worked as a barber, supporting his five children. Later the family moved to Annapolis, Maryland. When Daniel was 9-years old, his father died.

Daniel began his working life as an apprentice to a shoemaker, but eventually moved around the Midwestern part of the country settling in Janesville, Wisconsin. There he met a Dr. Henry W. Palmer and became fascinated with medicine. He began his work as an apprentice under Dr. Palmer and in 1880 entered Chicago Medical College, now Northwestern University Medical School. He graduated from medical school in 1883 and set up his own medical practice in Chicago, Illinois. Although he had his own successful practice, he had the desire to work in a hospital. That idea of a Black doctor working in Chicago during that time was forbidden, so Williams decided he would create his own hospital.

In 1891, he established Provident Hospital and training school for Black nurses in Chicago to serve Blacks who were not admitted into other city hospitals. Shortly after creating Provident Hospital, he performed a successful pericardium surgery to repair a wound; thus becoming one of the first people to perform open-heart surgery. He performed the surgery without the benefit of penicillin or blood transfusion, and the patient made a full recovery.

In 1893 his successes were recognized by President Grover Cleveland who appointed him as surgeon-in-chief of Freeman’s Hospital in Washington, DC. In addition, he taught clinical surgery at Meharry Medical College and served as an attending surgeon at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. In 1895, he co-founded the National Medical Association for Black doctors, and in 1913, he became the only Black doctor and charter member for the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Williams died from complications of a stroke at the age of 75 in Idlewild, Michigan.

Today, Williams's work as a pioneering physician and advocate for an African-American presence in medicine continues to be honored by institutions worldwide. Provident Hospital still stands as a monument to Dr. Williams on the Southside of Chicago. It is now reorganized as Provident Hospital of Cook County, a branch of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services.

Let us use this incredible information as a source of confidence and affirmation that we as Blacks come from greatness. Pass along this information as it may encourage someone else to aspire and achieve similar greatness. Tell ‘em you read it in the Dispatch!