A. Wilberforce Williams

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
Monroe, Louisiana, U.S.[1]
DiedFebruary 26, 1940
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Burial placeLincoln Cemetery
Other namesWilberforce Williams
Alma materLincoln Institute,
Northwestern University Medical School,
Sheldon Business College
Occupation(s)Physician, surgeon, journalist, educator
SpouseMary Elizabeth Tibbs

Early life and education

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

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, 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

References
  1. 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.
  2. "Dr. A. Wilberforce Williams". The Broad Ax. 1924-02-23. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  3. "Dr. A. Wilberforce Williams". The Broad Ax. 1904-12-31. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  4. Richardson, Clement (1919). "A. Wilberforce Williams, M.D.". The National Cyclopedia of the Colored Race. National Publishing Company. p. 150.
  5. "Dr. A. Williams is Dead from Heart Attack". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1940-03-09. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  6. "Health Advice During 1918 Flu Pandemic: Chicago's A. Wilberforce Williams". Chicago Public Library. December 29, 2020.
  7. Davis, Rebecca L.; Mitchell, Michele (2021-02-09). Heterosexual Histories. NYU Press. ISBN 978-1-4798-9790-2.
  8. "Letter from A. Wilberforce Williams to W. E. B. Du Bois, March 15, 1921". Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
  9. "Letter from A. Wilberforce Williams to W. E. B. Du Bois, December 17, 1935". Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
  10. "Albert Wilberforce Williams". United States Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968, FamilySearch. February 26, 1940.
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