Daniel was apprenticed to a shoemaker in Baltimore but soon ran away to join his mother who had moved to Rockford, IL. He then left to join his sister in Edgerton, WI moving to nearby Janesville where he became fascinated with the local physician, Dr. Henry Palmer.  He apprenticed with Dr. Palmer for two years before entering the now known Northwestern University Medical School.

Daniel graduated in 1883 to open his own medical office in Chicago, IL. There were primitive social and medical conditions existing in this era and Dr. Williams was forced to treat many patients in their own homes.  He was known to perform surgery on kitchen tables but he used the emerging sterilization methods and procedures of the day and quickly became known for his professionalism.

dr daniel hale williams at work

He became a surgeon on staff at South Side Dispensary and a clinical instructor in anatomy at his former college, Northwestern.  He was appointed to the Illinois State Board of Health in 1889 and one year later set about to establish an interracial hospital. The Provident Hospital & Training School Association, a three-story building with 12-beds was founded to serve the community.

Several black nurses and doctors of all races were trained at the school.  In just one year of operating, the Provident Hospital has treated more than 189 patients, 141 of these patients saw a complete recovery with only 22-deaths.  This was significant success for a new hospital because Dr. Williams insisted on the highest standards for procedures and sanitary conditions.

On July 9, 1893 something revolutionary happened at Provident Hospital.  James Cornish, a young black man was stabbed in the chest in a bar fight with a knife. By the time Cornish was transported to Provident, he had lost a considerable amount of blood and had gone into shock.

daniel williams open heart surgery patient

Dr. Williams made the decision to open the man’s chest cavity something that was unheard of in those days because such action often resulted in certain infection and the death of the patient. Dr. Williams repaired the man’s pericardium, the sac surrounding the heart, and sutured it.  He then applied antiseptic procedures before closing his chest.

Fifty-one days later Cornish walked out of Provident Hospital fully recovered and would go on to live for another 50-years but Dr. Williams was too busy to document the procedure which allowed others to lay claim to be the first to perform open heart surgery.

Fortunately for Dr. Williams, local newspapers of the day did help to spread the news and he later received the acclaim he deserved.  He was therefore noted as the first person to perform open heart surgery but more noteworthy; he was the first surgeon to successfully open a chest cavity without the patient dying of infection.  His procedures were later used as standards for internal surgeries.

miles electric elevator patent drawing

Throughout history dating as far back as the 1800s, blacks (African Americans) have been responsible for either inventing or significantly improving upon various inventions without the due recognition.

Several African American kids are growing up thinking that black people are only exceptional in sports and entertainment. It should be also noted that mainstream press can always find time to highlight the short-comings of the few high profile blacks without the same attention afforded to their accomplishments.

Thisinventionisblack seeks to highlight as many of the accomplishments as we can find to educate all kids about African American people and their contributions to our society.

Did you know these black inventions?

On February 5, 1884, W. Johnson patented a spring-like whisk device made of wires and a handle that today is used to help mix ingredients. Johnson’s eggbeater changed the way ingredients are mixed together from the time-consuming hand-mixing that was quite labor-intensive.

On March 17, 1896, C.B. Brooks designed and patented the street sweeper to clean the streets mechanically rather than teams of workers having to pick up the trash by hand or sweep it with hand-held brooms.  As cities grew larger and more trash accumulated on our streets, the street sweeper is now an indispensable tool to keep our environment clean.

On November 23, 1897, J.L. Love developed and patented the pencil sharpener out of complete frustration for having to use his knife to repeatedly shave off thin slices of wood from his pencil in order to make a new point to write his notes and letters.  Love’s pencil sharpener consisted of a crank and roter that was used to shave off the slices of wood until a point was created.

On October 11, 1887, Alexander Miles of Duluth, MN patented an electrical elevator that improved upon the existing elevators that required patrons to manually shutoff the access door to the elevator shafts.  While Alexander Miles did not invent the elevator, his improvement to create an automatic mechanism to close the access door to the elevator shaft resulted in fewer accidents.  Often people would forget to close the access door that leads to the elevator shaft and people would accidentally plunged down the shafts and be seriously injured.