Portland Advocate_1981-11

BLACK GENIUS DANIEL HALE WILLIAMS 1856-1931 Hale Williams was the first surgeon to success– fully perform heart surgery. On July 10, 1893, Dr. Williams opened the chest of a stabbing victim and sutured the punc– tured pericardium (the protec– tive membranous sac arvund the heart). Such a feat wa3 unthink– able in 1893 and it was done without the aid of X-rays, an anesthetist, drugs or a heart machine to keep the blood cir– culating during the operation. Dr. Williams was born in Pennsylvania to free Black par– ents in 1856. His father was a skillful barber. After his father's death, Dan Williams learned the smooth technique of barbering from a Black barber in Wisconsin. Dr. Palmer who was a frequent customer of Dan's inf~uenced him to study medicine. After a two– year apprenticeship with Dr. Palmer in Wisconsin, Dan Williams enrolled in the Chicago Medical College. Completing his medical training in 1883, Dr. Williams decided to remain in Chicago to practice his profession. Racism however prevented him from practicing his profession to his fullest potential. He was not allowed to join the staff of the white-owned and white-run hospitals. He was de– nied access to new innovations in surgical techniques that were made available to other doctors of white medical groups. D~. Williams had to literally operate on the kitchen and dining tables of his patients homes, because of the racist policies of the white hospitals. But, as in most cases when oppressive barriers gets in our way, Black ingenuity prevails. Dr. Williams' commitment to Black progress in the medical profes– sion and to the destruction of the racism that attempted to hamper that progress, gave him a simple solution to this minor problem; he established his own hospital. In May, 1891, the Provident Hospital and Training School Association was establish– ed. It was at this hospital that Dr. Williams performed his famous heart operation. The patient, James Cornish, lived a normal life for twenty years after the operation. Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a Great Black Genius of medicine. Tell your children about him. ... J page9 Photos by: Richard J. Brown Two recent distinguised visitors, Bill Sutherland(bottan photo) of the American Friends Service Coomittee and Asa Hillard( top photo), Consul– tant to Portland's Public Schools, share and discuss issues of impor– tance with Portland's Black community. ·~·~·~·; •.r••·~; J,,.,r,.~.·.· .•-....... /',1', r~r_ I i'fi._,.Jii ... ~.J.f'•lf j. I • • ..• t t • • .•• • • • • r;. "..T~ ll • ¥ #-'Es- .- ,. •.. • • •,. • • ...._.,. + f> • ..