When I Write

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams

All those that got their heart broken yesterday on Valentine’s Day needn’t worry thanks to Daniel Hale Williams because he was the first surgeon to successfully [without the patient dying afterwards, which is kinda important!] perform open heart surgery. As we continue to acknowledge those that came before us with their great accomplishments, we have to honor a man that set standards for internal surgery. When our health is often our primary concern, we never stop to think about what if people hadn’t taken the time to perfect their craft in order to ensure our safety at our most vulnerable time. I honor Daniel Hale Williams for his dedication as should you. Below is a brief description about the man as well as a video clip about his life….

“Willams is sometimes regarded as the first man to have performed cardiac surgery, though earlier surgeries on the pericardium were performed by Francisco Romero in 1801, Dominique Jean Larrey prior to 1842, and by Henry Dalton in 1891.  It should be noted however that while he is still known as the first person to perform an open heart surgery, it is actually more noteworthy that he was the first surgeon to open the chest cavity successfully without the patient dying of infection. His procedures would therefore be used as standards for future internal surgeries. Also in 1891, he started the Provident Hospital and training school for nurses in Chicago, Illinois. This was established mostly for African-American citizens. In 1893 he repaired the torn pericardium of a knife wound patient, James Cornish, the second on record.He performed this surgery at Provident Hospital, Chicago, on 10 July 1893, a hospital which he founded, and one of the few hospitals that welcomed African Americans.About fifty-five days later, James Cornish had successfully recovered from the surgery.

In 1893, during the administration of President Grover Cleveland, Williams was appointed surgeon-in-chief of Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., another of the few hospitals that would admit African Americans. In addition to organizing the hospital, Williams also established a training school for African-American nurses at the facility.

Williams was a teacher of Clinical Surgery at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee and was an attending surgeon at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He worked hard to create more hospitals for African Americans. In 1895 he co-founded the National Medical Association for black doctors, and in 1913 he became a charter member and the only black in the American College of Surgeons.” ~ Wikipedia