A. Wilberforce Williams (January 31, 1865–February 26, 1940),[1] was an American physician, surgeon, educator, and journalist.[2] He worked in Chicago for most of his career and specialized in internal medicine, the treatment of tuberculosis, and heart disease. Williams wrote a health column for The Chicago Defender, an African-American newspaper.
A. Wilberforce Williams | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Albert Wilberforce Williams January 31, 1865 |
| Died | February 26, 1940 |
| Burial place | Lincoln Cemetery |
| Other names | Wilberforce Williams |
| Alma mater | Lincoln Institute, Northwestern University Medical School, Sheldon Business College |
| Occupation(s) | Physician, surgeon, journalist, educator |
| Spouse | Mary Elizabeth Tibbs |
Early life and education edit
Albert Wilberforce Williams was born on January 31, 1865, in Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, to African American parents Flora and Baptise Williams.[1][3][4] His first thirteen years of life was spent on a plantation.[4]
He attended the Normal School at Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, Missouri.[1][4] He had worked as a school teacher in Kansas City in his early career.[3] Williams graduated from Northwestern University Medical School (now Feinberg School of Medicine) in 1894, and Sheldon Business College of Chicago in 1907.[1] In 1902, he married Mary Elizabeth Tibbs a school teacher from Kentucky.[1][5]
Career edit
From 1897 until 1940, he worked as a staff physician at Chicago's Provident Hospital, working alongside noted cardiologist and hospital founder Daniel Hale Williams.[1][3][6] He was also the head of the medical department post-graduate school at Provident Hospital.[4]
He wrote a health column for The Chicago Defender, titled "Dr. A. Wilberforce Williams Talks on Preventive Measures, First Aid Remedies, Hygienics and Sanitation."[6] Williams advocated for better sanitary practices, hygiene, proper ventilation, preventative medical care, and against superstition. He also wrote about venereal diseases and masturbation, at a time when it was against the cultural normal.[7]
The United States government selected Williams as a member of an advisory board, to supervise the work of the local exemptions board.[4] Williams was the president of the Physicians, Dentists, and Pharmacists Association of Chicago.[3][4] He was a member of the Knights of Pythias of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, and served as their "grand medical director".[3]
He corresponded with W. E. B. Du Bois twice, which is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries archives; the first correspondence was regarding the second Pan-African Congress (1921), and the second was his interest in the Encyclopedia of the Negro (1935).[8][9]
Williams died from a heart attack on February 26, 1940, in Chicago.[5][10] He is buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g Mather, Frank Lincoln (1915). Who's Who of the Colored Race: A General Biographical Dictionary of Men and Women of African Descent ; Vol. 1. p. 284.
- ^ "Dr. A. Wilberforce Williams". The Broad Ax. 1924-02-23. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
- ^ a b c d e "Dr. A. Wilberforce Williams". The Broad Ax. 1904-12-31. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
- ^ a b c d e f Richardson, Clement (1919). "A. Wilberforce Williams, M.D.". The National Cyclopedia of the Colored Race. National Publishing Company. p. 150.
- ^ a b "Dr. A. Williams is Dead from Heart Attack". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1940-03-09. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
- ^ a b "Health Advice During 1918 Flu Pandemic: Chicago's A. Wilberforce Williams". Chicago Public Library. December 29, 2020.
- ^ Davis, Rebecca L.; Mitchell, Michele (2021-02-09). Heterosexual Histories. NYU Press. ISBN 978-1-4798-9790-2.
- ^ "Letter from A. Wilberforce Williams to W. E. B. Du Bois, March 15, 1921". Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
- ^ "Letter from A. Wilberforce Williams to W. E. B. Du Bois, December 17, 1935". Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
- ^ "Albert Wilberforce Williams". United States Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968, FamilySearch. February 26, 1940.