Doctor Dan

1
Doctor Dan
Daniel Hale Williams, Surgeon
Presented by Marc Biedermann and Nicholas Roland,
with special guest star, The Janesville Cow
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The Life of Doctor Dan

• Born 1856 (1858?), Died 1931
• Founder of interracial Provident Hospital
• First open heart surgery
• Many other accomplishments

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In the Beginning
Father Daniel Williams, Jr.
Mother Sarah Price Williams

• Mixed Ethnicity German, Welsh, Scottish, Irish,
  African-American
• Free, well educated families
• Prosperous barber

4
Dans Early Years

• Born in Hollidaysburg, PA, fifth of seven
  children
• Father dies when Daniel is 11 years old
• Shoemaker apprenticeship in Baltimore
• Unhappy, he returns to mother in Illinois

5
Janesville, Wisconsin

• Manages barbershop in Edgerton, WI, moves to
  Janesville at age 17
• Works for Harry Anderson part-time
• Graduates from high school with special tutoring

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Medical Apprentice

• Fascinated by newspaper stories about Dr. Henry
  Palmer
• 1878 - Becomes Palmers medical apprentice
• Focused and dedicated book-learner
• 1880 Chicago Medical College (M.D. earned 1883)
• Never reported any discrimination

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Doctor Dans Support

• Harry Anderson, barber
• Gave Williams work, accommodated his school
  schedule in Janesville
• Financial and moral support through medical
  school
• Fatherly relationship

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Dr. Williams, M.D.

• Opens successful private practice in Chicago
• 1884-1889
• Physician, anatomy instructor, and policymaker
  in Illinois

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Provident Hospital

• Emma Reynolds, black nursing student, cant find
  training
• 1891 - Williams founds Provident Hospital to
  provide training for black doctors and nurses
• Interracial staff and patients
• treatment of the medical and surgical diseases
  of the sick poor.

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Surgical Pioneer

• 1893 Performs successful operation on James
  Cornish to repair knife injury sutured
  pericardium (heart lining), the first open heart
  surgery.
• Questionable May have been done earlier by
  other surgeons
• Technically Open Heart?
• Also perfected spleen suturing techniques

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Freedmens Hospital

• Washington, D.C. Surgeon-in-chief, appointed
  1894 by President Cleveland
• Reorganized and upgraded hospital, established
  ambulance service
• Resigns 1897 due to politics

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Back to Provident and Beyond

• 1897 Resumes work at Provident
• 1898 - Marries Alice Johnson
• 1900-1913 Helps establish 40 hospitals in 20
  states for black communities
• Gynecological practice for African American women
  in Chicago
• George C. Hall at Provident resents Williams
  progress as an African-American in white
  community

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Other Notables

• Meticulous about aseptic techniques
• First black member of American College of
  Surgeons
• Helped found National Medical Association
• Improved policies at Meharry Medical College for
  black medical students

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In the End

• 1912 Resigns from Provident due to conflict
  with George C. Hall, continues work at St. Lukes
  in Chicago
• 1924 Wife dies
• 1926 Suffers a stroke, dies August 4, 1931

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Doctor Dans Legacy

• Provident Hospital closes, but reopens in 1993,
  still helps underserved communities
• Opportunities for minority medical professionals
• Helped open the door to modern open heart
  surgeries CABG, valve replacement, etc

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Doctor Dans Support

• Frederick Douglass
• There is only one way you can succeed, Dan, and
  that is to override the obstacles in your way.
  By the power that is within you, my boy, do what
  you hope to do.

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Things to Remember

• Significant influences/supporters
• Major Accomplishments
• Significance of Provident Hospital