Daniel Hale Williams Historic Marker

Daniel Hale Williams was an African-American physician that pioneered the first successful open-heart surgery. Williams was born in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, but he would eventually move to Chicago. In Chicago, he founded the Provident Hospital in 1891. In addition, in 1894, Williams would be named Chief Surgeon at the Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C.. Lastly, Williams founded the National Medical Association in 1895.

Daniel Hale Williams was born on January 18, 1856 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. At around 10 years of age, Williams was sent to live with a family friend and apprentice as a cobbler. Williams quickly realized that his was not the path he wished to follow, and he decided to further his education instead. After realizing that he wanted to pursue education, Williams moved to Illinois to be with family and took an apprenticeship with Dr. Henry Palmer and furthered his education at Chicago Medical College [1].

Once Daniel Hale Williams finished medical school, he decided to set up his practice in Chicago's South Side, and he would teach and research at Chicago Medical College. Dr. Williams was well aware of the prejudice and discrimination that occurred against African-American patients and professionals. Williams had a close acquaintance whose daughter was denied admission to a nursing school because of the color of her skin. This led to Dr. Williams founding the Provident Hospital and Nursing Training School in 1891. This Hospital was created to allow equal opportunities for African-Americans in the medical field. The hospital would prove challenging in the early ears, but Dr. Williams would become a very well respected surgeon in the coming years.

A patient by the name of James Cornish arrived at Providence Hospital on the night of July 9, 1893. He was suffering from a stab wound that sent him into shock because the stab wound had caused a cut in the pericardium of the heart. Dr. Williams believed that there was damage to the heart. He decided to undertake something that had not been successfully done and open up the chest to perform open-heart surgery. The surgery lasted six hours and required two ribs to be removed. The surgery was successful and the pericardium was stitched up by Dr. Williams. James Cornish would spend the next 51 days in the hospital, but he would go on to live a full and healthy life after being discharged [3].

In 1893, the Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C.., had a high mortality rate and quality of care was not ideal. Dr. Williams was convinced by a friend to apply for the Chief Surgeon position at the Freedman's Hospital. Williams was offered the position and served as the Chief Surgeon from 1894-1898. At his time there, Dr. Williams achieved a lower mortality rate and larger number of surgical cases leading to recovery. While in Washington, D.C., Dr. Williams helped found the National Medical Association as a way for African-Americans to belong to a national medical organization as no other organization at the time accepted African-Americans. He would serve as the first Vice-President and would allow African-American professionals to grow in their medical studies and opportunities [4].

[1]Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Daniel Hale Williams". Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Jul. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-Hale-Williams. Accessed 23 October 2021.

[2]Link, Eugene P. “The Civil Rights Activities of Three Great Negro Physicians (1840-1940).” The Journal of Negro History, vol. 52, no. 3, Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc., 1967, pp. 169–84, https://doi.org/10.2307/2716112.

[3] The Daily Telegraph . (2018). First heart surgery patient | daily telegraph. Retrieved October 22, 2021, from https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/chicago-doctor-dr-daniel-williams-first-heart-surgery-patient-lived-another-20-years/news-story/f946adf5d7d805c385483a6caa3c7c3f.

[4]Columbia University. (n.d.). Daniel Hale Williams and the first successful heart surgery. Columbia University Department of Surgery. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://columbiasurgery.org/news/daniel-hale-williams-and-first-successful-heart-surgery.