Black History Month

2. Introduction…
An American physician and founder of Provident
Hospital in Chicago, credited with the first
successful HEART SURGERY.
Dissatisfied with the lack or opportunity for
African-American physicians, he founded the
nation’s first interracial hospital, Provident, in
1891

3. Early Life…
Born on January 18,1856 in Hollidaysburg,
Pennsylvania
He was born the fifth of seven children of Daniel
Williams Jr. and Sarah Ann Price Williams.
He was the fifth of seven children.

4. Early Life Cont.…
Daniel fascinated by a local physician (Dr. Henry
Palmer) decided to follow his path.
He worked as a apprentice for 2 years.
In 1880 entered Northwestern University
Medical School.
In 1883, after graduation, he opened his own
medical office in Chicago, Illinois.

5. Did You Know?
Because of primitive social and medical
circumstances existing in that era, much of
Williams early medical practice called for him to
treat patients in their homes, including
conducting occasional surgeries on kitchen
tables.

6. History…
In 1890, Reverend Louis Reynolds, whose sister
Emma was refused admission to nursing schools
because she was black, approached Dr. Williams
for help.
This led to the founding of the Provident Hospital
and Nursing Training School in 1891.

7. Road to Success…
He founded the Interracial Hospital, the
Provident Hospital and Training School
Association, in January of 1891.
Provident provided a place for young black
doctors to practice and trained a new generation
of student nurses.
The hospital opened in May of 1891, and seven
of 175 applicants were accepted for the 18-
month nurses’ training program.

8. Road to Success…Cont.
A young black man named James Cornish had
been stabbed in a neighborhood scuffle.
He was rushed to Provident Hospital with a one-
inch knife wound in his chest near his heart.
By the time Williams could administer
aid, Cornish had collapsed from loss of blood
and shock.

9. Cont.…
Risking his surgical reputation, Williams decided
to operate—at that time without benefit of x-
rays, blood transfusions, or antibiotics to fight
infections.
With six physicians witnessing the operation, he
opened the patient’s chest cavity and saw that
the knife used in the stabbing had penetrated
the heart about a tenth of an inch.

10. Achievements…
Dr. Williams performed a new type of surgery to
repair a tear in the heart lining, saving his life.
While proud of his accomplishments at
Provident Hospital and those of the staff, Dr.
Williams recognized that the hospital would
need to grow to accommodate patients.
In 1896, with substantial volunteer support, a
new 65-bed hospital was opened.

11. Other Achievements…
The doctor began his medical practice in
Chicago at a time when there were only three
other black physicians.
In 1892, in Chicago, Daniel Hales Williams
founded Provident, the first American interracial
hospital.
Provident hosted the first nursing school for
blacks in America.

12. Skills…
Williams applied for the open position of chief
surgeon at Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Set up after the Civil War to serve the medical and
health needs of freed slaves and other black
citizens, the hospital had deteriorated during the 12-
year tenure of Dr. Charles B. Purvis.
Williams resigned from his position as chief surgeon
of Freedmen’s Hospital in February of 1898.

13. Cont.…
Then, at the age of 42, he married Alice
Johnson, the daughter of an ex-slave and the
well-known sculptor Moses Jacob Ezekiel.
Williams became the NMA’s first vice president.
In 1912, Williams was honored with an
appointment as associate attending surgeon at
Chicago’s St. Luke’s Hospital, the
largest, wealthiest, and most important hospital
in city

14. Cont.…
In 1926, Williams suffered a stroke that left him partially
paralyzed and ended his medical career. He died on
August 4, 1931, at the age of 75.
Upon his retirement, Daniel Hale Williams had bestowed
upon him numerous honors and awards
He received honorary degrees from Howard and
Wilberforce Universities
was named a charter member of the American College of
Surgeons and was a member of the Chicago Surgical
Society.

15. Best Known For….
Physician Daniel Hale Williams performed
the first successful heart surgery in 1893
and founded the nation's first interracial
hospital.

16. Work Cited…
Buckler, Helen. Daniel Hale Williams: Negro Surgeon
(2nd edition). New York: Pitman, 1968.
Sammons, Vivian O. ―Williams, Daniel Hale.‖ Blacks
in Science and Medicine. New York: Hemisphere
Publishing, 1990.
Bianco, David. "Williams, Daniel Hale 1856–1931."
Contemporary Black Biography. 1992.
Encyclopedia.com. 20 Feb. 2012
<http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

17. Work Cited…
Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, eds.,
Africana: Encyclopedia of The African and African
American Experience (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2005).
http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/danielwilliams.
html
"Williams, Daniel Hale." African-American History
Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/

18. Work Cited….Books…
Klein, Aaron E., The Hidden Contributors: Black
Scientists and Inventors in
America, Doubleday, 1971.
Patterson, Lillie, Sure Hands, Strong Heart: The
Life of Daniel Hale Williams, Abingdon, 1981.
Haber, Louis, Black Pioneers of Science and
Invention, Harcourt, Brace & World, 1970.

19. Work Cited…
Spangenburg, Ray, and Kit Moser.
"Williams, Daniel Hale." African Americans in
Science, Math, and Invention, A to Z of African
Americans. New York: Facts On File, Inc.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/90713251/

20. THE END….